Fernando Rivas

Who is Fernando Rivas?

Fernando Rivas is a Cuban-born composer, pianist, arranger and producer.

He graduated from the Juilliard School of Music where he studied with National Arts Award recipient David Diamond. He has worked extensively in film and theater, as well as in broadcast media and advertising. Mr. Rivas has won several awards including the Princess Grace Foundation Grant for outstanding original work in musical theater and composed fifteen musicals and hundreds of songs. His work was featured by the Theater Communications Group in a collaboration with Maria Irene Fornes and Tito Puente in Lovers and Keepers.

Rivas composed for the popular show Sesame Street for singers as diverse as Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan and Cyndi Lauper sharing two Emmy award wins with the Music team in 1994 and 1995. He also received an Emmy nomination for Music Composition and Direction in 1997. He was the composer along with Lyricist Nancy Sans of the song Mambo I,I,I sung by Gloria Estefan on the Grammy Award winning best Children's Album 1999 - Elmopalooza!.