Alejandro Veiga, 13, left friends and family behind in Cuba for a dream of becoming a pianist.

Never mind that Alejandro is still learning English.

He boarded a plane with his parents several months ago for a new life -- and music instruction -- in Miami.

He's already on his way as a freshman at The Academy of Arts and Minds Charter High School in Coconut Grove.

``Alejandro is the finest young pianist I have been privileged to audition,'' said Octavio Campos, head of the Performing Arts at the Academy.

He believes that Alejandro ``will become world famous'' one day.

Others are equally impressed -- with one piano teacher giving him free lessons and a piano so he can practice at his Little Havana home.

Alejandro repays their faith with his diligence. He practices hours a day. He also studies to do well at the Academy.

``My favorite subjects are music theory and music appreciation,'' he said.

He believes that he will learn much at his new school and he will grow as a musician.

He started dreaming of becoming a pianist almost before he went to school in Cuba. By age 7, he was regularly playing. A neighbor recognized his talent and recommended that he go to a performing arts school in Guanabacoa, Cuba.

Alejandro got into the competitive school that accepts only one out of every 25 applicants.

In Guanabacoa, his dreams took root. He finished six years in the performing arts school before his grandmother managed to get permission for him and for his parents to leave Cuba, and plane tickets to Miami.

The mission: ``To give light to my lifelong dream of becoming a pianist,'' Alejandro said.

One of his teachers in Cuba was convinced of his talent and persuaded a friend in Miami -- retired piano teacher Lazara Marta Herrera -- to take him as a student.

Herrera did so for free.

She became so impressed with his talent that she gave him a piano and suggested he apply to the Academy of Arts and Minds.

Academy Director William Machado is glad she did.

He was so taken with the 13-year-old's classical music performance of Chopin that he welcomed the youngster into the music strand and assigned him an academic mentor to help improve his English.

Manuel Alonso-Poch, founder of the charter school, has heard Alejandro play and said he can't believe that someone so young has ``such depth and deep emotional expression when playing.''

Alejandro said playing the piano relaxes him and makes him happy. He plays Debussy and Mozart with joy and delights in showing his Cuban roots by pounding out Guantanamera.

The future is firm in his mind: Performing in a concert hall.

He said he understands that perfection demands hard work. That means thousands of hours of practice.

But he rewards himself by dreaming big.

``When I am alone playing I imagine myself directing an orchestra at a concert,'' he said.

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