VILLARINI, Awilda

Awilda M. Villarini-Garcia is a Puerto Rican composer and pianist who publishes and performs under the name "Awilda Villarini."

Villarini was born in Patillas. Her first piano teacher was her mother, who was a church organist. She went on to earn a B. Mus. (1961) from Peabody Conservatory and a M. Mus. (1973) from the Juilliard School. Grants from the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture enabled Villarini to study piano in Paris and Vienna. She received a Ford Foundation scholarship for a Ph.D. from New York University in 1979. Her dissertation was entitled A Study of Selected Puerto Rican Danzas for the Piano. Villarini's teachers included Claus Adam, Jean Marie Darre, Carmelina Figureoa, Alexander Gorodnitzky, William Kroll, Eugene List, Walter Panhofer, and Dieter Weber