Aurelio de la Vega is a Cuban-American composer, lecturer, essayist and poet. He has written numerous works in all forms and media except opera and since the early 1960s has been an active force in the United States musical scene. Many of his compositions are published and recorded, and the majority of them are played constantly nationally and internationally. His music and aesthetic ideas have been commented upon and analyzed in books, newspapers and reviews throughout the United States and Latin America. In 1978 he was awarded the coveted Friedheim Award of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C. He has been nominated four times for a Latin Grammy Award, three times for Best Classical Contemporary Composition and once for Best Classical Album.