Fernando Lechuga was born in Ciudad Juarez, he is a fourth generation musician; his first teacher was his father Roman Lechuga who was an excellent musician and pianist. Here he attended elementary school and later the International Business College where he received a degree in Accounting. In 1968 he moved to El Paso where he attended Austin High School graduating in 1972 with top honors. In 1974 he enrolled at The Unitversity of Texas El Paso where under the guidance of Dr. Arryl Paul first attempted to receive the degree in piano performance. In 1978 he went to Los Angeles, California where for three years took private lessons in big band arranging from Paul Lopez, and harmony, theory, composition as well as piano lessons from Armando Herrera. While in Los Angeles, he started composing and arranging and worked as a television and recording musician. In 1981 he returned to El Paso where he continued his work and in that year together with his brother Juan Lechuga opened a nightclub called Candilejas. In 1985 he went back to school at UTEP and in 1989 he received his B.A. of Music with double major, piano performance and theory and composition. While attending university he continued to work as a professional musician, composing, arranging, studio musician, he also worked at the Job Corps as a music instructor as well as at El Paso Community College in the Senior Citizens program. Later he was co-owner of La Posta recording studio and Rio Nightclub. In 2000 he received his Masters degree in piano performance from UTEP, where he worked as an instructor. Presently he is a music instructor at El Paso Community College. He owns a recording studio, and still very active as a  composer, arranger, and professional musician with his group Azucar. Thirty-six years later, Fernando (left) and his brother Juan Lechuga (right) are still going strong with the band that introduced salsa rhythms to the El Paso live music scene.