President Miguel Diaz-Canel sent a congratulatory message to Cuban musician Pancho Amat, who celebrated his 70th birthday, this April 22nd.

The Cuban leader wrote on his twitter account “My congratulations to this great Cuban musician, Cuba’s top ‘tresero’ on his 70th birthday.”

Born in 1950 in Güira de Melena, Leonel Francisco Amat --Pancho Amat—is a Cuban guitarist, and player of the Cuban tres.

The Cuban Tres is a guitar-like instrument with three courses (groups) of two strings each, for a total of six strings. Sometimes referred to as "Cuban Tres Guitar," "Tres Cubano" or "Tres Guitar," some might think that the tres is just another guitar, but according to experts, the major difference between the two is in playing the instrument. Unlike the guitar, in the tres, chords are seldom strummed.

Several famous musicians have preferred the tres for their music, notably, Faustino Oramas, Alfredo Boloña, Arsenio Rodríguez and Compay Segundo. In recent decades, one "tresero," or "tresista" as he prefers to be called, has placed his very singular imprint on his interpretation of the tres, that is, Pancho Amat or "El Tresero Mayor de Cuba" [The Top Cuban Tresero].

Pancho Amat was awarded the National Music Prize in 2010.