The Cuban Research Institute held the eleventh installment of its Classically Cuban concert series, featuring the Grammy and Emmy award-winning artist Albita Rodríguez, on December 6, 2015, at the Graham Center Ballrooms on the FIU Modesto A. Maidique Campus.
Albita's concert was a spectacular journey through the history of Cuban popular music as well as her own professional career. The program included some of her best-known songs such as "Qué manera de quererte" (1994), "Qué culpa tengo yo" (1995), "El chico chévere" (1996), "Ta bueno ya" (1997), and other Cuban and Latin American classics like "Cachita" (1925), "Que viva Changó" (1949), and "La pollera colorá" (1960). The audience also saw a fragment of the film Toda una vida (2010), documenting the recording of Albita's CD with the same title.
The singer noted that one of her first public appearances after she arrived in Miami in 1993 took place at FIU, invited by former CRI Associate Director, Dr. Uva de Aragón.
More than 200 people attended the concert, including FIU staff, faculty, students, and other members of the South Florida community. Special guests included FIU President Dr. Mark B. Rosenberg and his wife Rosalie; Associate Vice President for Research Dr. Luis P. Salas and his wife; LACC Director Dr. Frank Mora and his wife Ivette; and Dr. Inés Triay, Director of the Applied Research Center.
Albita Rodríguez is a Cuban-American singer, producer, and composer, known in the music world simply as Albita. Born in Havana, Albita is one of the most authentic Cuban singers who has been able to move the world through her music. She has recorded 15 albums, 11 of which have been Grammy nominated. Her latest production is Mujeres con cajones (2014), based on the Peruvian folk genre of the cajón and recorded during a live concert in Miami.
The event was cosponsored by the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC), Univisión, and El Nuevo Herald.
Click here to see pictures of the concert.
