Cuban and foreign voices will hail 25 years of courageous music

HAVANA, Cuba, September 2 (ACN) On September 6 to 11, Cuban and foreign trova musicians will pay tribute to the late singer-songwriter Vicente Feliú’s mobilizing capacity around politically committed music through Canto de Todos, an initiative launched 25 years ago that several generations of artists will celebrated this month.

María Elena Vinueza, Music Director of Havana’s Casa de las Américas―where the then Ibero-American Song Encounter Canto de Todos was born in 2000―recalled how Vicente engaged those who, in the heat of the new century, still defended utopia and commitment, and noted the participation of 82 artists from many countries who assembled around a common cause, namely to sing about their realities and struggles in a courageous demonstration of solidarity.

“Feliú’s project was a non-profit venture with a clear dream, that is, to build bridges of songs in Latin America in the face of an industry bent on stripping music of its roots, as well as to bring together artists around the new trova, to promote international, national, and bilateral festivals and gatherings, and to discover those who emerged in the 1990s and still didn't know each other or the previous generations.

Event general coordinator Iván Soca Pascual remarked that Canto de Todos will start with a performance by the Brazilians singers Pedro Luis and Joao Cavalcanti as part of a program that includes talks, concerts, an exhibition of part of the objects displayed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the New Trova Movement, community visits, and a pilgrimage to the tomb of the unforgettable singer at Jardín María Teresa de Calcuta, and other events.

Among the confirmed foreign artists are María Cecilia Concha Laborde and José Patricio Cid (Chile), Hasbladyer Arenas and Oscar Giovanny Alfonso (Colombia), Mirian Quiñones and Kiri Escobar (Peru), Sebastián Echarry and Gabo Sequeira (Argentina), Ciro D. Santos Ferreira (Brazil), Leonel Ruiz and Elena Gil (Venezuela), Diego Sojo (Costa Rica), Cristian Silva (Paraguay), Dany Caracola (Spain) and Gabino Palomares (Mexico).