More Than 1,600 Persons Attend Virtual Classically Cuban Concert

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To watch a video recording of the concert, click here

To view the concert program, click here

Since 1994, CRI has sponsored a concert series to celebrate the diverse musical traditions of Cuba and its diaspora, bringing a broad spectrum of the greater Miami community to FIU. Each year, the concert focuses on a different theme and includes works by Cuban and other composers.

More than 1,600 persons watched the virtual Classically Cuban concert with the renowned Cuban-American pianist Enrique Chía, entitled “An Hour Remembering Our Music from My Living Room.” The concert was broadcast on YouTube on Sunday, December 6, 2020, from 5:00 to 6:00 PM. The cosponsors of the event were the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, CasaCuba, the FIU School of Music, and the FIU Libraries.

The program featured some of the best-known and most beloved boleros and other staples of Cuba's musical repertoire. The evening opened with a medley of romantic songs by Ernesto Lecuona, including “Siempre en mi corazón” (“Always in My Heart”) and “Noche azul” (“Blue Night”), as well as “Las perlas de tu boca” (“The Pearls of Your Mouth”) by Eliseo Grenet and “¿Y tú qué has hecho?” (“And What Have You Done?”) by Eusebio Delfín. The concert continued with a potpourri of popular pieces such as “Al vaivén de mi carreta” (“To the Swaying of My Oxcart”) by Ñico Saquito; “La última noche que pasé contigo” (“The Last Night I Spent with You”) by Bobby Collazo; and “Lágrimas Negras” (“Black Tears”) by Miguel Matamoros. The program ended on a nostalgic note with the unofficial anthem of Cubans in exile, “Cuando salí de Cuba” (“When I Left Cuba”) by Luis Aguilé.

Born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, Enrique Chía is an accomplished and prolific recording artist whose unique and organic playing style is rooted in the grand prerevolutionary musical traditions of Cuba, as well as in the Great American Songbook and sophisticated pop of his adopted homeland. He has released over forty recordings that have done remarkably well across the Americas, including Mexico and the Caribbean, and have provided the framework for his stirring, always sold-out live performances. His recordings include the 2001 Grammy Award-nominated The Music of Ernesto Lecuona; the bestselling album Sentimental Piano (originally released in 2004); the 2008 Emmy Award-winning La Cuba Eterna; and the 2018 album Piano under the Stars at Vizcaya.

Since 1994, the Cuban Research Institute (CRI) has sponsored a concert series to preserve, celebrate, and disseminate the diverse musical traditions of Cuba and its diaspora. Every year the concert focuses on a different aspect of that legacy, including Cuban and other composers and performers.