Cuban musical excellence returns to the capital Vth edition of the International Havana Clásica Festival, which will take place from November 18th to December 3rd, 2023. With a much more ambitious program than previous years, the event will flood Havana’s most important stages, with a representation of outstanding artists from Cuba and the world and with a program that integrates different cultures, styles, repertoires and eras.
Under the artistic direction of its founder, the prominent Cuban pianist Marcos Madrigal, the event is dedicated to the famous musician and flute teacher Roberto Ondina (1904-1963), one of the most important influences of Cuban music. On the 60th anniversary of his death, he will receive a well-deserved honor to highlight his important work.
As they commented at a press conference, as with every edition, in addition to the exchanges between talented young artists, there were also others from different countries. Habana Clásica will maintain its program of concerts, teaching events and social projects.
Also for the second time, the event receives the important support of the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) as the main donor through Lorenzo Suárez, cultural advisor at the Swiss Embassy in Cuba, deputy director of the SDC and this time also director general, producer of this V edition.
At the festival press conference, from left to right: Lorenzo Suárez, cultural advisor at the Swiss Embassy in Cuba, deputy director of Cosude and general producer of this V edition; Katia Cárdenas, Director of Cultural Management of the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana (OHCH); and Johanna Aedo, Investment Director (OHCH). Photo: Gabriel Valdes Valdes
The organizing team includes the Young Art Fund (FAJ), Cosude’s new platform that supports emerging work. The FAJ leads the financial management and general production of the festival, with operational support from the Esteban Salas Musical Heritage Office.
Additionally, they are sponsored by the Classical Havana Cultural Association (ACHC), based in Rome, Italy; the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana (OHCH) and the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM).
Habana Clásica 2023 is the most ambitious edition as they manage to include in the program more than a hundred artists, including soloists and orchestras, from 17 countries such as Germany, Canada, Cuba, the United States, France, Italy, Lebanon, Mali, Mexico , Netherlands, Paraguay, Poland, United Kingdom, Syria, Sweden, Switzerland and Tunisia.
From the participating national and international artists:
This year the festival will feature young musician Daniel Toledo Guillén, a graduate of the University of the Arts (ISA) and HfKM-Regensburg, Germany, who will serve as Composer in Residence.
Cuban musicians such as Niurka González (flute) also take part; Guido López-Gavilán, founder and director of the chamber orchestra Música Eterna); Daiana García, director of the Havana Chamber Orchestra; Yasek Manzano (trumpet), Harold López-Nussa (piano), Yosvany Terry (saxophone) and Bryan López (tenor).
For the first time, they will be accompanied by important international performers such as: Jacques Zoon (flute, Switzerland/Netherlands), Sarah Willis (horn, Germany/Great Britain), Chagall Trio (violin, cello and piano, Italy), Grégoire Maret (harmonica, Switzerland). /USA), Thomas Mesa (cello, USA), Nada Mahmoud (Oud, Tunisia), Iseut Chuat (cello, Switzerland/France), Giulia Rimonda (violin, Italy), the duo Karolina Mikolajczyk & Iwo Jedynecki (violin and harmonica, Poland), Layale Chaker (violin, Lebanon/France) and Kinan Azmeh (clarinet, Syria/USA).
For their part, the composer Nicola Sani (Italy), the pianist Alessandro Stella (Italy), the flautist Jona Venturi (Switzerland/Italy), the violinists Linus Roth (Germany) and Lissy Abreu Ruíz (Cuba/Sweden) return to our island ), the cellists Sonja Kraus (Germany) and Willem Stam (Canada/Netherlands) and the soprano Mónica Marziota (Italy).
About the festival news:
With the intention of introducing audiences to new sounds, the event will incorporate four concerts focusing on music from non-academic classical traditions, from the Arab world and West Africa.
To this end, the singers Afef Ouni (Tunisia) and the oudist Nada Mahmoud (Tunisia) take part, a duet of young Maghreb citizens who bring with them the rich music of their nation. They will be joined by prominent Cuban musicians such as pianist Ernesto Oliva, double bassist Olivia Rodríguez and drummer Alejandro Aguiar, who will perform part of this original repertoire.
Also noteworthy in the program is that for the first time in Havana, the Malian kora master Chérif Soumano and the Cuban virtuoso pianist Rolando Luna will share the stage.
In addition to the spaces where concerts take place and as part of the social project aimed mainly at girls and boys, Habana Clásica extends to children’s hospitals, the neighborhoods of La Güinera in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo and La Timba in Vedado.
In return, workshops aimed at children are planned at the National Museum of Fine Arts and will take place in coordination with technical schools.
The program also includes educational meetings and master classes aimed at music students and taught by numerous artists who will take part in this fifth edition.
See also:
The curtain will soon rise on the 20th Havana Theater Festival