Raul Torres Pays Homage to Facundo Cabral

Cuban singer songwriter Raul Torres dedicated one of his best-known songs on a concert to Argentinean composer and poet Facundo Cabral, who was murdered on Saturday in Guatemala.


“To that unforgettable voice I dedicate my song Candil de Nieve,” Torres said on his concert last Sunday.


He added: “Cabral will continue to be an unquestionable referent of the Latin American protest song, a source which we all have to provide from because of his intelligent and profound texts…he is an essential figure within the musical stave of the continent.”


In his over one-hour concert, Torres, who became famous in Cuba in the early 1990s for Candil de Nieve, sang pieces from his most recent record Fenix de Cristal.


He was accompanied on stage by a quartet made up of piano, guitar, bass and drums. After recording Candil de Nieve, featuring renowned Cuban singer songwriter Pablo Milanes, Torres became one of the most original voices of the Nueva Trova musical movement. His songs have been interpreted by Spanish Ana Belen and Joaquin Sabina, Brazilian Simone and Argentinean Fito Paez.

Singer Argelia Fragoso Again with Us

The interest in Cuban music has grown in recent years on the international scene, Cuban singer Argelia Fragoso, who has been living for years in Spain, told us.

It is a tangible reality, not only because of the presence of Cuban musicians abroad, but also in the interest of artists from other regions in learning about our music, Fragoso said.

"We have had great musicians who have taken to these audiences the endless wealth of our cultural heritage," she said.

According to Fragoso, when referring to international music, we must include Latin American, North American and Cuban music, which in some ways is a fusion of all.

Although she lived a long time in Spain, especially in Tenerife at the Canary Islands, Fragoso also spent time in countries such as Mexico and Germany.

Last Friday and Saturday, Fragoso gave a concert at the Theatre of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana. Her last two albums, Entre Nosotros (Between us) and Canta lo Sentimental (Sings the sentimental), were featured in her concert, where she shared the stage with actress Daisy Granados.

That was a night full of emotion, feeling and warmth. Argelia shined like the star she always has been.

The time passed without the audience noticing. There is so much art and so much talent in this beautiful woman!

Her last concert in Cuba was in November 2010, when she appeared at the Museum of Decorative Arts.

The Golden Voice of Cuba announced that soon she will premiere for the Cuban public the song Somos dos (We are two), a call to love, solidarity and unity, she said. We look forward to the next meeting with this black jewel of Cuban song.

Celebration of Alicia Alonso's 90th Birthday

A homage concert to mark the 90 birthday on Cuban prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso was given in Havana last night by several renown artists like Maestro Frank Fernandez, the soprano Johanna Simon and pianist Hernán López-Nussa.

The audience enjoyed a beautiful gala in the García Lorca Hall of the Havana’s Grand Theater, with the presence along with the honoree of Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto.

Other artists that paid homage to the dancer were Polito Ibáñez and Ivette Cepeda and the Reflection Group, while Viengsay Valdés and Yadil Súarez

premiered the work “For Alicia”, choreographed by Tania Vergara and music by pianist Frank Fernández.

The program combined music and dance for the sake of life and work of the director general of the National Ballet of Cuba, who once Cuban leader Fidel Castro said: “Alicia is a glory, an inspiration to the Cuban culture”.

The concert was organized by the Ministry of Culture and was the preamble of another activity to wait for midnight at the Military Historical Park Morro-Cabaña, attended as well by other personalities of Cuban culture.

Alicia will be honored on Tuesday by several generations of dancers and students and mass organizations in the headquarters of the National Ballet of Cuba, while the TV program “Roundtable” will be dedicated to the iconic performer of Giselle, among many others roles.

Alicia Alonso, the pride of the nation and symbol of Cuban identity, is Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO, holds, among hundreds of awards and national and international awards, the Order of Jose Marti, the highest award that the State Council of the Republic of Cuba gives.

She is also Doctor Honoris Causa from the Cuban Higher Institute of Arts (ISA) and received the Galina Ulanova Distinction.