Internationally acclaimed jazz and classical musician Arturo Sandoval performed Ave Maria at the University of Notre Dame's 171st Commencement Ceremony on May 15, 2016.
Sandoval has received 10 Grammy Awards, six Billboard Awards and an Emmy Award and is a 2013 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, this nation’s highest civilian honor. Born in Cuba, he started playing the trumpet at age 12 and soon began to follow the music of jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie. His bands in Cuba received critical praise worldwide, and he was the nation’s outstanding instrumentalist from 1982 to 1990. He defected to the United States with his family in 1990 and was granted U.S. citizenship nine years later. He also is a renowned classical musician, and he has recorded and performed with everyone from Gillespie to Frank Sinatra and the Boston Pops to Justin Timberlake. Now an emeritus professor at Florida International University, Sandoval continues to tour and perform and offer clinics and seminars worldwide.