Yosvany Terry

Yosvany Terry serves as Senior Lecturer on Music and Director of Jazz Bands at Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Music Department. An internationally acclaimed Cuban musician and cultural bearer of Afro-Cuban traditions, he has collaborated with legendary artists including Branford Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Eddie Palmieri, and Chucho Valdés across jazz, classical, and nueva trova genres.

His formal education includes classical training at Havana's National School of Arts (ENA) and Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, where he developed foundational skills before engaging with Cuba's major musical figures.

Terry's research centers on the spiritual and structural dimensions of Afro-Cuban music, particularly Arará cantos and rhythms, while exploring cross-cultural pollination between African, French, and Caribbean traditions. His work bridges ethnomusicological preservation with contemporary jazz innovation, creating compositions that function as both spiritual explorations and cultural dialogues. This manifests in projects examining historical narratives like the Makandal slave rebellion and transnational exchanges between Cuba and West Africa.

His discography reveals a consistent trajectory of Afro-Cuban jazz innovation, evolving from small-ensemble works like Today's Opinion to large-scale compositions including the GRAMMY-nominated New Throned King and the opera Makandal. Recent projects such as Ancestral Memories demonstrate increasing sophistication in merging traditional Arará elements with modern improvisational frameworks.

His scientific awards include:

• GRAMMY Award nomination for New Throned King (2014)
• New York Times Top 10 Albums of the Year for Today's Opinion (2012)
• Doris Duke Artist Award (2015)

Terry maintains active mentorship in Havana, guiding emerging artists while securing major commissions through competitive grants. His funded projects include:

• Yerba Buena Garden Festival's Noches de Parranda (with MAP Fund support)
• French-American Jazz Exchange's Ancestral Memories (Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation & Doris Duke Charitable Foundation)
• Harlem Stage opera Makandal
• Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors/New York State Music Fund's Afro-Cuban Roots: Yedégbé

He directs multiple ensembles including the Yosvany Terry Quintet, the genre-defying Bohemian Trio, and the Afro-Cuban Roots project focused on authentic Arará musical preservation, all serving as laboratories for his cultural synthesis research.