Maria Letona has found her mission as an advocate of Cuban composer Rene Touzet: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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By the time she was in her teens, Letona had embarked on her own revolutionary insurgency. "My dad was way too strict for me and I started rebelling," she says. "By this time I hated the piano and I never practiced."

At the age of 17, Letona ran away from home and joined a popular local Latin jazz band. "They asked, `Do you play salsa?'" and I said, "Yeah!' I knew zero. I was so square, all I knew was Beethoven."

Letona performed with the band for two years throughout the New Orleans area, frequently as a warm-up for Celia Cruz. Soon her gypsy existence led her to Boston, where her older sister lived. And Letona became, in her words, "a normal person," working temp and secretarial jobs. Yet gradually she began to feel the pull of her early classical training. She bought an old upright and resumed playing again.

A piano teacher she found in the yellow pages encouraged her to get a bachelor's degree in music. Told that the best place in Boston was the New England Conservatory of Music, Letona became obsessed with gaining entrance to the prestigious school.

"When I went into the building and heard all these pianos, violins, and cellos warming up I thought, `What the hell am I doing here? I'm 25 years old and I don't know how to play piano.' My letters of recommendation were from my boss: `Maria is an excellent receptionist.' I'm a loser!"

The fortune cookie

Much to her own amazement, Letona thrived at the conservatory, earning a reputation as a relentless performer and dedicated student. She also became very involved in contemporary music, performing works of John Cage and György Ligeti under the composers' coaching.

After getting her bachelor's and master's degrees, Letona was undecided about her next move until dining with friends at a Chinese restaurant. She opened a fortune cookie that said, "You are headed to the land of palm trees and sunshine." She told herself, "That's it! That's my destiny. I'm going to Florida!"

"She's got a very vivacious and positive personality," said Thomas Sleeper, one of her mentors at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, who wrote his piano work The Cursive Images for her. "She plays with a lot of energy and verve. ... She really makes things sparkle."

In addition to getting her doctorate at UM, Letona met her husband in Miami, and now has two children. Having achieved a balance in her personal life, she feels her varied experiences make her uniquely suited to her role as Touzet's advocate, bridging the jazz and classical worlds just as he did. She will present a recital at Barry on Nov. 5, which will include works of Touzet.

"Beethoven has a swing and Mozart has a swing," says Letona. "I feel it really helps if you experience the popular music side. You know, teachers always say, `Sing, make the piano sing!' But I also always tell my students, `Make the piano dance.'"

Lawrence A. Johnson can be reached at ljohnson@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4708.

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