Cuban province to host International Jazz Plaza Festival

HOLGUIN, Cuba, January 12 (ACN) The eastern city of Holguín will host, for the first time, the 41st edition of the International Jazz Plaza Festival, which will begin on January 25 with a masterful concert by Roberto Fonseca.

Víctor Rodríguez García, president of the organizing committee, explained on Saturday at a press conference that Holguín is a vast and well-prepared cultural hub capable of hosting an event of this magnitude, for which more than 130 collateral activities have been planned in approximately 13 venues encompassing diverse artistic expressions.

The inclusion of Holguín reflects the desire to broaden the festival's cultural reach and provide opportunities for young talent before an audience with high expectations, he affirmed.

He also noted that the province will welcome artists from Mexico and France, who will arrive from Havana and continue their tour to Santiago de Cuba. Groups from eastern Cuba will also perform in the city, including the Orquesta Original de Manzanillo.

For her part, Yakelin Tapia, provincial director of Culture, highlighted the extensive program of activities that, in defense of the municipalities' traditions, will combine jazz with typical sounds that have not had their own space, such as pneumatic organ music and the French conga, which will be the main focus of concerts, workshops, tributes, and jam sessions—a term that designates the informal performance of artists where improvisation is key and there is no pre-established script.

She emphasized the creation of a solid theoretical framework, which will facilitate exchange between participants and students of the José María Ochoa Regional School of Music, in addition to the concerts that will take place in the Main Square in front of the Eddy Suñol Theater, in Calixto García Park.

Among the activities of Jazz Plaza in Holguín is the opening of the exhibition “Sosabravo,” a selection of works by the artist Alfredo Sosabravo, winner of the 1997 National Prize for Visual Arts, at the Provincial Center for Visual Arts.

The festival will feature the live creation project “A golpe de jazz” (To the Beat of Jazz), with students from the El Alba Regional Academy of Visual Arts; and the opening of creative workshops for young bands of this cultural genre.

Also performing will be Codanza, the quintet This is Entropy, the Flute Orchestra, Fígaro Jazz Club, the Holguín Symphony Orchestra, Vocal Monier, the Holguín Choir, and prominent artists from the province.

The International Jazz Plaza Festival, founded in 1980, is a flagship event on the country's musical scene and will feature more than 1,500 guest artists from Cuba and around the world in its 41st edition, performing in the cities of Havana, Santa Clara, Holguín, and Santiago de Cuba.