Marco Rizo

Throughout his career which combined the techniques of his classical training with Afro-Cuban and jazz rhythms, Rizo recorded nearly 30 albums. He was born in Santiago de Cuba, Oriente, Cuba.

• Birth Name — Marco Rizo Ayala • Born — November 30, 1920 • Birthplace — Santiago de Cuba, Cuba • Died — 8 September 1998 • Place of death — New York City, New York, U.S. • Occupation — Pianist, composer, arranger • Years Active — 1940–98

Rizo's father, Sebastian, a flutist with the Santiago Symphony Orchestra, served as his son's first musical instructor. In 1932, Marco moved to Havana to attend the National Conservatory of Music, where he studied under the tutelage of Spanish composer Pedro San Juan. He remained there for six years, and in 1938 was named the official pianist of the Havana Philharmonic Orquestra, performing under the direction of Ernesto Lecuona. In 1939, he performed duo piano recitals with Ernesto Lecuona. Rizo was considered Cuba's most important concert pianist by the age of 16. Rizo became interested in jazz through his work with his father's Rizo-Ayala Jazz Band. In 1940, he migrated to the United States, having received a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. There, he studied under Rosina Lhévinne. During World War II, Rizo performed and worked with the 2nd Army Military Band.

At the end of the war, Rizo's childhood friend Desi Arnaz asked him to join as the pianist and orchestrator for his band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra. He toured the U.S. with the band until 1950. When Arnaz started production of I Love Lucy, he once again turned to Rizo, hiring him to be the pianist and orchestrator for the show between 1951 and 1957. Rizo also made several on-camera appearances on the show throughout its run on television. Contrary to popular belief he did not write the I Love Lucy theme by himself; it had music by Rizo, Eliot Daniel and Desi Arnaz with lyrics by Harold Adamson. The lyrics were only heard once on the series, in the season three episode "Lucy's Last Birthday" made in 1953. After the I Love Lucy show ended, he remained with CBS and worked as pianist-arranger for Bob Hope. While in Los Angeles, he attended UCLA and studied under Igor Stravinsky and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Rizo composed motion picture music for Columbia, Paramount and MGM Studios. He continued his concert career in 1960, playing the music of Lecuona and other Cubans. In the early 1970s, Rizo worked as the musical director for the Royal Viking Sea cruise ship. Throughout his career, he arranged for hundreds of top artists: Carmen Miranda, Danny Kaye, Xavier Cugat, Yma Sumac, and Paquito D’Rivera, among many others. Some of his most memorable piano and orchestral compositions include Suite campesina, Ñañigo, Danzas cubanas, Jose Martí: Sinfonía cubana, Broadway Concerto, Suite of the Americas, Suite española, and Visions of New York.

• Marco Rizo at AllMusic • Marco Rizo.com • Finding Aid for Marco Rizo Papers in the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts *