Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Ahmed Dickinson Cárdenas traces his development as a classical guitarist from his childhood in Cuba through his education and professional career in the United Kingdom. His musical upbringing was shaped by an unusually broad cultural environment: children’s choral music, the Cuban classical-guitar tradition, Nueva Trova, African music, Soviet recordings, and popular music such as the Jackson Five.

His earliest musical experiences came through the children’s choir Pinquio, directed by María Esrius and Nora García. Although he initially attempted to study violin, he ultimately found his instrument in the guitar, beginning his formal studies with Fernando López. His education was grounded in the Cuban guitar school associated with Isaac Nicola, whose pedagogical tradition emerged from Nicola’s studies with Emilio Pujol in Spain. Ahmed describes the method as incorporating European, South American, and specifically Cuban musical materials, demonstrating that his classical training was never entirely detached from his Cuban cultural environment.

His trajectory changed significantly in 2002 when he moved to London amid restrictions affecting travel between Cuba and the United States. His family background helped prepare him for this transition: his father had studied in the Soviet Union, while his mother taught Russian. In London, Ahmed entered a new musical and cultural environment and developed a professional career that eventually included performances at major venues such as Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and Queen Elizabeth Hall, as well as recognition at the Cuba Disco Awards, where he received awards for soloist and instrumental album.

A major thread throughout the conversation is migration and changing perceptions of identity. Ahmed contrasts his experience in Cuba with his experience in the UK. In Cuba, he describes a strong sense of national identity in which being Cuban could take precedence over racial distinctions. At the same time, he recognizes a contradiction: despite Cuba's culturally diverse society, the classical repertoire he encountered remained overwhelmingly European.

Moving abroad made questions of identity and representation more visible to him. Rather than approaching representation primarily through a demand for external recognition, Ahmed emphasizes self-reliance, artistic excellence, and confidence in one's own work. His philosophy is essentially that an artist should develop the substance of their craft rather than depend upon foreign institutions to validate their legitimacy.

This philosophy is connected to his broader understanding of music. Ahmed's exposure to multiple traditions allows him to look for what he calls "connecting tissue" between seemingly different musical worlds. Cuban classical guitar, Nueva Trova, African music, Soviet music, rock, and European classical music are not necessarily isolated categories for him; they form part of the musical environment through which he understands himself.