Celebrated Cuban-born trumpeter Arturo Sandoval shares the magic that has earned him fans around the world with his first Bermuda Festival audience tonight at the Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts.

The four-time Grammy winner, a prot?g??of the late jazz master Dizzy Gillespie, began studying classical trumpet at age 12, but soon discovered jazz. Today, he has evolved into one of the world's most acknowledged guardians of jazz trumpet and fl?gelhorn, and is also renowned as a classical artist.

Born in Artemisia, a small town on the outskirts of Havana, Sandoval was granted political asylum in the United States in 1990, and makes his home in Miami, Florida. He was a founding member of the Grammy-award winning group, Irakere, whose explosive mixture of jazz, classical, rock and traditional Cuban music caused a sensation in the music world. In 1981 he left Irakere to found his own band, which was equally well received. He has been nominated for Grammys 12 times.

Sandoval has a diverse style and versatility that can be heard on albums by Gloria Estefan, Johnny Mathis and Frank Sinatra, to name a few. He was the subject of an MBO film entitled `For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story', which garnered several Emmy nominations, one of which was his for musical composition.

Most widely known as a virtuoso jazz trumpeter, Sandoval released a critically acclaimed album of originals and jazz last year which displays his significant mastery and expertise at the piano. Inspired by his mentor Gillespie, he learned to play the piano to assist himself in taking the trumpet to a new level. In fact, the Cuban American regards the piano as the best tool for composing, arranging and orchestrating, and he wrote his first classical concerto for trumpet on the piano.

Sandoval loves nothing better than sharing his virtuosity with anyone who loves music, which augurs well for Bermuda Festival audiences.

Arturo Sandoval performs tonight and tomorrow night at the Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts. Both concerts begin at 8 p.m. For ticket/further information see today's Bermuda Calendar.