Fernando Valenti

American harpsichordist, 4 December 1926 - 6 September 1990. Made his debut at age nine as a pianist. He studied piano under Amparo Iturbi, spent four years at Yale, and studied harpsichord under Ralph Kirkpatrick. Changed his career to Harpsichordist with a tour of South America in 1946. Still in his twenties, Mr. Valenti was selected to play at the Bach Festival, with Pablo Casals, in Prades, France during the summer of 1950; Played and taught at the Institute for Humanistic Studies in Aspen, Colorado. In The spring of 1951 Mr. Valenti was appointed to the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music-the first Harpsichord instructor in the prior history of the institute. He used a two manual concert harpsichord built in 1945 by John Challis.