Sandoval has garnered 10 Grammy Awards and was nominated 19 times. He has also received six Billboard Awards and an Emmy Award, the latter for his composing work on the entire underscore of For Love or Country, the HBO movie based on his life, which starred Andy Garcia as Arturo.

His album Ultimate Duets features an incomparable who’s who of the most talented artists working today. This landmark album also contains an unparalleled mix of collaborations with legends and new-generation voices from the worlds of pop, jazz, classical, and Latin music, coming together for the Cuban maestro’s first duets release, including Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams and Ariana Grande, Plácido Domingo, Celia Cruz, Josh Groban, Juan Luis Guerra, Al Jarreau, Alejandro Sanz, Prince Royce, and David Bisbal. His most recent album is Christmas at Notre Dame, featuring several of the school’s music ensembles.

Sandoval was a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning group Irakere, whose explosive mixture of jazz, classical, rock, and traditional Cuban music caused a sensation throughout the entertainment world. In 1981, he left Irakere to form his own band, which garnered enthusiastic praise from critics and audiences all over the world and continues to do so.

Sandoval is also a renowned classical musician, performing regularly with the leading symphony orchestras from around the world. He has composed his own Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, which can be heard on Arturo Sandoval: The Classical Album. Arturo has performed with the foremost orchestras in the country as well as abroad and recorded John Williams’ Trumpet Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra. His classical artistry has earned him the respect and admiration of the most prestigious conductors, composers, and symphony orchestras worldwide.

His compositions can also be heard in movies, including Clint Eastwood’s The Mule, as well as 1001 to 1: The Cory Weissman Story, At Middleton, Dave Grusin’s soundtracks for Havana and Random Hearts, in The Mambo Kings soundtrack with his Grammy-nominated composition “Mambo Caliente,” in the soundtracks of The Perez Family, 61, and Mr. Wrong, the documentary Oscar, and The Family Fuentes. He also was commissioned by the Kennedy Center to compose the music for the ballets Pepito’s Story and Soul Possessed, as well as Oman O Men and The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker.

A 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and an honorary doctorate recipient from the University of Notre Dame, Sandoval reaches beyond the scope of mere effort. His struggles while in Cuba and since his defection have given him more energy and strength, urging him to accomplish and surpass his childhood dreams. One frequently speaks of Sandoval’s virtuoso technical ability or his specialty in high notes, but those who have seen him at the keyboard, lyrically improvising a ballad, or who have had the opportunity to enjoy the diversity of his music, through his compositions from the most straight-ahead jazz, Latin jazz, or classical work, know that Arturo Sandoval is one of the most brilliant, multifaceted, and renowned musicians of our time.