Hans Federico Neuman, whose original name was Johann Friedrich Neümañ was born
in Barranquilla. His father, Willem Tell, came from Curaçao, his mother, Zoila
Rosa Del Castillo, was Colombian. He started piano lessons as a child with
maestro Jose Vasquez-Pedrero and did harmony and composition studies with
maestro Pedro Biava (maestro Biava’s son, Luis, is First Second Violin in the
Philadelphia Orchestra in Washington D.C. and a teacher at Temple University).
Neuman married Sara Emilia De la Hoz and had one single daughter, Sara Cecilia
(little me, 55 now!). In 1952 Neuman went with his family to Bogota, where he
played with groups in restaurants and acquired a vast knowledge of music from
all over the world. He also had a duet with violinist Gustav Kolbe (who played
at the München Philharmonic under Celibidace for many years, and is a fan of
Wagner’s Ring, which he had to play so many times at Bayreuth’s Spielhaus.
Kolbe retired and is now living in Bogota).

At maestro Biava’s retirement from the School of Beaux Arts in Barranquilla, my
father was called to replace him. So, after 12 years he came back to his
homeland. He had been a secondary school teacher in Bogota, too.
He directed the School from 1964 to 1970, when he was called by professor
Andres Pardo-Tovar (lawyer and music historian, contributor to the Historia
Extensa de Colombia in the area of music), who was at the head of the
Radiodifusora Nacional de Colombia (the main national broadcasting station in
the country) where my father led several programs on music appreciation. He
also taught Music Appreciation and Music History at Universidad Nacional de
Colombia. Following his retirement in 1983, he came back to Bar
ranquilla after a brief tour in Europe with his wife, and became a programmer
at Uninorte FM Stereo, conducting a program similar to those he led in Bogota.
He died aged 74.

Neuman was also an accomplished translator of Italian poetry, and a poet
himself. As a musician, I have never met a better accompanist nor sight reader
than him. As a pianist, he had the most beautiful swing for American,
Brazilian and all that popular music never to be forgotten.
He had an excellent, subtle (some times not so subtle) sense of humor which he
expressed only when he was among friends. I still miss him.