Roberto Sánchez Ferrer is one if the outstanding personalities of Cuban musical cultural since the 2nd half of the 20th century

Havana, Jan 13 (RHC) The 2023 National Music Prize was awarded in Havana to the instrumentalist, composer, orchestrator and conductor Roberto Sánchez Ferrer, who occupies a position in the symphonic field in Cuba.

Born in Havana on December 31, 1927, Sánchez is one of the paradigmatic personalities of Cuban musical culture since the second half of the 20th century.

With an extensive artistic life, he has recorded with notable figures such as Esther Borja, Iris Burguet, Armando Pico, Omara Portuondo, Chucho Valdés and Hernán Lopez-Nussa.

He began his musical studies at the Edison Institute and the Levy Conservatory, and at only 18 years old he directed a musical revue made up of musicians from the Havana Philharmonic Orchestra, which was his first role as an orchestra director.

In 1945 he formed the Jazz Trio called Los raqueteros del Swing, where he played the clarinet, with José Álvarez on the piano and the drummer Antonio García, who was later joined by Arturo (Chico) O'Farrill, Kiki Hernández, Gustavo Más, Isidro Pérez and the singer Ana Menéndez.

He joined the Hermanos Castro Orchestra as a saxophonist and clarinetist, and later he moved on to other important jazz bands of the time, including Hermanos Le Batard, Orquesta Riverside, and Habana Casino.

In 1961 he traveled to Paris as musical director of Cuban Modern Dance and conducted the orchestra of the Sara Bernhardt Theater of Nations. That same year he directed Verdi's La Traviata, in the first opera season in Cuba after the triumph of the Revolution.

In 1965 he joined the musical direction of the National Opera, and from 1976 to 1978 he served as general director.

He has made numerous international tours to countries in Latin America, Asia and Europe, where the most famous Cuban zarzuelas by Gonzalo Roig, Ernesto Lecuona, Rodrigo Prats, among others, have been presented. (Source: PL)