Augusto Enríquez Hernández

Singer and composer, one of the most well-known and charismatic figures in the Cuban music scene. Among the most relevant moments of his career is having represented Cuba at the Pavarotti and Friends spectacle, and singing a duet with Luciano Pavarotti of the iconic piece Chitarra romana, at the Palazzo di Novi Sad, in Modena, Italy.

He was born in La Habana. He began his artistic career as vocalist of Grupo Moncada in concerts at the Universidad de La Habana, where he remained for several years; later he began to sing as a soloist.

From that moment on, his rise to the national and international stage was rapid, and he has achieved a long history performing on Cuban stages and around the world, thus achieving great successes.

«To this day I consider myself a composer who expresses what he feels in a direct way. I'm not one for grand works, although I carry a world of notes inside me. Perhaps I'll achieve it, "when I grow up."»

He has participated in festivals and concerts in various countries such as:

Sanremo International Festival, 1989, 1990, and 1991.
Concerts at Estadio Santa Laura, Santiago de Chile in 1991.
European Tour with Phil Manzanera (guitarist of the English group Roxy Music), 1992, (during which he toured London, Zurich, Bern, Basel, Frankfurt, Munich, Milano, Torino, Roma).
Concert with Jovanotti, Escalinata de la Universidad de La Habana, 1995.
Help Rwanda Concert with Paul John, Miriam Makeba, and Boys 2 Men, 1995.
WOMAD; Festival of the Living Treasures, 1999, Durban, South Africa; 1999.
Convocation Hall, Toronto, 2000.
Sanremo Festival, 2000.
Concert at Canada's Wonderland in Toronto, Canada, 2001.
Concert with Jovanotti, Stadium Flaminio, Italy, 2002.
Pavarotti and Friends, 2002.
New Auditorium of Roma, opening of summer concerts in 2004.

Pavarotti and Friends 2002
He was invited by Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti to participate, along with Sting, Andrea Bocelli, and James Brown, in Pavarotti and Friends, 2002.

As a singer and composer, he performed at the Music Bridge, the first meeting of North American and Cuban artists who gathered for a week in La Habana in musical creation workshops that culminated with a concert at Teatro Karl Marx on March 28, 1999.

He created, together with Paddy Maloney (The Chieftains), Todd Smallwood, and Mick Fleetwood, the song One World. Tour 801 Latino, with Phil Manzanera, England. Additionally, he has sung alongside Joan Manuel Serrat, Lou Reed, Zucchero, Jovanotti, Manuel Mijares, Guadalupe Pineda, and Mónica Naranjo.

His discography includes ten CDs. In 2000, he released the album Carambola, an ambitious project in which he recreates Cuban music from the 1940s and 1950s, produced for Cuban Jazz Band format, with the collaboration of Demetrio Muñiz, Joan Manuel Serrat, Gianni Miná, and Emilio de Alessandro. This album marks a new stage in his work.

This project was conceived from the beginning to produce three CDs dealing with the same theme, along with a book in which Augusto addresses, through anecdotes and interviews he conducted with some protagonists of the era.

With the new objectives he set for himself, he created his own orchestra: Augusto Enríquez y su Mambo Band, which has taken him to stages around the world as a continuation of his artistic work.

Award
Cubadisco 2004, CD La bolita

Television Programs
He has participated in television programs from Europe, among which are the starring shows on Italian RAI:

Pronto Raffaella
Carramba che Fortuna, both with Rafaela Carrá.
Fantástico
Domenica In.

On the national level, he has worked alongside Chucho Valdés and Irakere, Amaury Pérez, Juan Formell and Los Van Van, Issac Delgado, Edesio Alejandro, Omara Portuondo and Elena Burke, Adalberto Álvarez, Sarah González, Ernán López Nussa, Demetrio Muñiz, among others.

He was the producer, artistic director, and singer of programs broadcast from La Habana by RAI 2, on the occasion of Pope Juan Pablo II's visit to Cuba in 1998; and he produced the music for the Mexican telenovela Caminos cruzados, broadcast by Televisa.

Works
Despite the People (I Love You).
Grow in Your Dreams.
When I Grow Up.
Tell Me No.
Time Is What Sums It Up.
Fabio, I Reach You.
Rain of Hearts.
My Song Rises.
Because You're Not Here.
Alone.
Only for Me.
We Are Two.
Truths.

Augusto also shared the stage with music icons such as Joan Manuel Serrat, Sting, and James Brown. He is, possibly, one of the most internationally renowned Cuban performers of recent decades.

For some years now, Augusto Enríquez has resided in the Canadian city of Halifax, capital of the province of Nueva Escocia. There he has his own studio where he teaches singing and performance, and also works as a professor at Nova Scotia Community College.

"So far things are going very well for me," he confessed. "My life as an artist ends when I arrive home, in the neighborhood, when I attend to my obligations as a father, son, husband, and friend."