Born in Havana, Cuba, October 3, 1938, Bernardo is the son of Jose Bernardo and Raquel Perez. He studied at the Havana Conservatory, Cuba, where he received a Bachelors of Music in 1958. He attended Miami University in Florida where he received a Masters in Music in 1969. He received his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1972. An architect, playwright, composer, and writer, Bernardo was a planner for the Havana City Hall, Cuba, in 1959. After moving to the United States, he was an architect of Harrison and Abramovitz, 1964-1967, the vice-president of Museum Planning Incorporated, 1967-69, and an architect of Joyner/Bernardo, 1969 until the present.

Of his musical accomplishments, he wrote an opera, "La Nina de Guatemala", in 1974, a work based on the poem by the same name of the Cuban poet and patriot Jose Marti. He also wrote "Sonata for Amplified Piano" and "Canciones Negras" in 1973 and published Poemas...