Antonio Dorta Hernández

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A trained musician, he is one of the essential pillars in Taguasco's cultural identity, a member of the Banda de Concierto de Sancti Spíritus for 24 years, a fervent developer of new talent, defender of the most authentic roots of national identity. His retirement did not end his cultural work and he is deserving of several recognitions and awards.

His uncles played in a band and hung the tres behind the door, he was 8 years old and would steal them to make their strings sound, then other instruments followed such as the philharmonic and the marímbula.

This self-taught hobby extended until he was 20 years old when he enrolled in the Instituto Privado de Música Horta in the city of Santa Clara. There he studied two years of trumpet, two of French horn-trombone-and four of music theory and solfège. During that time of academic training he simultaneously developed his instrumental potential in the Banda Militar of the city, the Conjunto Cuba, and the Santibana and Hollywood Swing orchestras.

In 1960 he returns to his native Taguasco where he begins, on a moderate scale, his work of musical training with new generations, besides, he works as a tobacco worker and joins the Hermanos Carmona ensemble, which became an orchestra in 1962. In this period, when jazz band gained great strength in Cuba, Villo explored different genres such as guaracha, bolero, son, danzón, paso doble and cha cha chá.

In 1970 the orchestra was reduced from 14 to 6 musicians and the group that marked Taguasco's popular memory was founded: the Combo Los Astros, under the direction of Celestino Carmona. In this stage he breaks into the so-called light dance music under the influence of the Prodigious Decade, alternating his musical career with the Banda de Concierto de Sancti Spíritus, where he played the French horn, and remained there for 24 years performing, fundamentally, in the park promenade and at official and military events.

Musical creation and work with children find a prolific moment in 1970, the rhythmic bands were an experience revitalized by this man who in 1976, and at the idea of teacher Élida Alonso, formed a group of primary school students with instruments provided by Armando Acosta Cordero.

"I made a promise to Armando to turn, in five years, Taguasco's rhythmic band into one of the best in the country, and in just three years I had already kept my word. We won the trophy at the XI World Festival of Youth and Students held in Havana in 1978 and we also went in 1979 to the inauguration of the Ernesto Guevara National Palace of Pioneers in the presence of Fidel". (Antonio Dorta, Villo)

On February 2, 1977 he began his work as a methodology specialist for amateur artists at the Casa de Cultura de Taguasco, thus strengthening his work of developing new talent even more.

In 1983, and as a result of systematic work with children and youth, he managed to bring together 23 musicians with sheet music who formed the first and only concert band of Taguasco, which unfortunately disappeared for the culture of this municipality due to technical concepts of an evaluation committee.

From this wave of young instrumentalists trained by this master, several names of professional musicians who have performed on different stages in Cuba and the world stand out. Examples of these are Arnelio Carbonell and Roberto Oliva, percussionists, Pipo Castro, saxophonist, Toni Morante, trumpet player, Mario Alexis Villanueva, bassist and Antonio Dorta (son), clarinetist.

"I feel fulfilled because I never felt capable of doing so much, but seeing all these young people with so much intelligence, capacity and understanding is gratifying and my son…well, knowing he's a musician with the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba is a healthy pride, it's a pride that barely fits in me". (Antonio Dorta, Villo)

In 1990 he decided to retire from active professional music and in 1994 he retired from the cultural sector, this step did not in the slightest mean a distancing from music or creation, since he continues to be active within the cultural system providing advice, experiences, memories, and most importantly, he continues to be the standard to match or reach by the newcomers arriving in the world of art.

During his extensive artistic career, this meditative, analytical and deliberate man put his vast experience and knowledge at the service of being a judge at various artistic contests, such as the amateur festivals that took place throughout the 1970s and early 80s, he is a founder of the evaluation teams of the National Fairs of Popular Art and has also stood out for being a fervent defender of the most authentic roots of national culture, traditional peasant cuisine, the means of production and love in generic terms for the Cuban peasantry, all of this has characterized him and earned the respect of all.

"For me art is one of the reasons for living, because without art life would be vain". (Antonio Dorta, Villo)

The artistic trajectory of Antonio Dorta has been recognized on several occasions, for being a living entity within his community, given his consistency, perseverance, commitment, dedication and for nurturing musical sensitivity in more than one generation of Taguasco residents, all of this makes him possess the medals:

September 8, awarded by the CDR.
25 years in the amateur artists movement.
Raúl Gómez García, awarded by the National Union of Workers in Culture.
He also possesses the Municipal Award for Community Culture and the Condition of Symbol of Culture in the Municipality of Taguasco.

To Villo, as almost everyone knows him, it is easy to find him rolling a good cigar at any time of day or simply conversing like a good Cuban about the most varied topics, sure, always interesting and at the end, his interlocutor takes with him a pleasant experience and wise advice. For his humility, profound modesty and human psychology, the youngest always find in this artist a source of consultations and motivations.

He feels fulfilled but never satisfied "…I hope, again, to be able to hear one day the sound of a concert band 100% with Taguasco musicians, that would be my greatest dream to achieve". (Antonio Dorta, Villo)