José White Lafitte

[1] After receiving early musical training from his father, who was an amateur violinist, José White gave his first concert in Matanzas on 21 March 1854.

He was accompanied by the visiting American pianist-composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, "who encouraged him to pursue further violin studies in Paris and raised money for him to travel there".

From 1877 to 1889 White was director of the Imperial Conservatory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he served as court musician for the Emperor Pedro II.

Mainly written for his own instrument, White's output comprised some 30 works, including a virtuosic Violin Concerto in F♯ Minor, recorded in 1975 by Aaron Rosand and in 1997 by Rachel Barton Pine.

[5][6] Other works include La Bella Cubana (a habanera for two violins and orchestra), La Jota Aragonesa (Op.5), and several sets of violin Études, of which Josephine Wright wrote:"Collectively, these études are striking for their melodic content as well as their technical difficulty, and they give insight into the virtuosic skills of their creator.