By Nicole Hamilton
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Santos Ojeda, a former piano professor at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and the first foreign-born student to be accepted into the Juilliard School of Music, died May 27 at Hialeah Hospital in Miami of complications from pneumonia. The former Clifton resident was 87.

"He really opened up the gates," said his longtime friend and former student, Rusela deVillena of Miami, who first met Mr. Ojeda when she was 12 years old. "After he came to Juilliard, it was then possible for other foreign students to study there."

He was born in Caibarien, a small Cuban fishing village; his first piano teacher was his mother, Maria Luisa Valdes de Ojeda, who gave him his first lesson at age 3.

A child prodigy, his talents were eventually discovered by conductor and composer Alejandro Garcia Caturla, under whom Mr. Ojeda performed when he played Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue for the first time in Cuba, at the age of 15.

Mr. Ojeda also gave the first Cuban performance of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto, under Amadeo Roldan with the Havana Philharmonic.

Mr. Ojeda heard Rachmaninoff, his favorite composer, perform in New York City. Ms. deVillena said the performance brought tears to his eyes.

Mr. Ojeda moved to New York City when he was 17 to study with the assistant to Joseph and Rosina Lhevinne, teachers at the Juilliard School of Music. He was eventually accepted by the prestigious school and stayed for about 11/2 years before enlisting in the U.S. Army to serve in World War II. After being honorably discharged at the end of the war, Mr. Ojeda remained in Europe and resumed his piano studies in Paris with renowned teacher Ives Nat.

He eventually returned to Juilliard and earned his bachelor's degree in piano performance in 1950, and his bachelor of science degree in 1951. Mr. Ojeda held teaching positions at Columbia University and in the preparatory department of the Juilliard School before accepting a position as professor of piano at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music in 1967.

"He was an expert in tone production," said Ms. deVillena, who also attended Juilliard, after being coached in New York by Mr. Ojeda for a year. "He had such an appreciation of sound quality. And he had so much imagination in his language. He once told me (about a piece she was working on), 'You must play this like a wounded queen.' "

In addition to teaching, Mr. Ojeda maintained a career as an international performer, touring the United States, Europe and Latin America, including Cuba.

Mr. Ojeda retired from CCM in 1987.

"Aside from his natural ability for the piano and his perfect pitch, he was someone interested in art in general, whether in literature such as poetry and storytelling, or in painting, architecture. ... Santos was an aristocrat of the spirit: a very private and complex man. He had a great sense of humor, yet he was very refined both as a teacher and in personal relationships," said Ms. deVillena.

A few years ago, he moved to Miami to be closer to members of his family.

Survivors include a son, Ashiel Ojeda of Miami; two stepdaughters, Maria and Melania Levitsky, both of New York City; a sister, Chi Chi Garcia of Miami; former wife, Leslie Poindexter of Winton Place; a niece, Maria Alvery of Miami, and one grandchild.

Services will be later in Miami.

Memorials: The University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music scholarship fund for undergraduate pianists, P.O. Box 210003, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0003.

E-mail nhamilton@enquirer.com