Aymeé Regla Nuviola Suárez

Aymee Nuviola, today known as La Sonera del Mundo, was born in Havana Cuba, studied music from a young age at the Manuel Saumell Conservatory, specializing in classical piano.

Born into a family of musicians, some of her earliest memories are at the piano, through melodies between lessons. Later, when she was receiving her classical training at the Academy of Music, she had a fascination with all types of music, from Debussy to Bossa Nova.

Her mother was a pianist and graduated in history. Her sister has accompanied her as a singer on multiple stages and her niece is Paola Guanche, the winner of Telemundo's La Voz Kids competition.

She is a composer, singer, pianist, arranger and has also ventured into the world of acting in Film, Theater and Television.

She began singing from a young age alongside her sister Lourdes Nuviola, forming the "Duo de Las Hermanas Nuviola", the name by which both became known in Cuba. 

Those of us over forty years old have in our memory the pleasant recollection of that program that was the calling card of the duo made up of two sisters with different personalities but who, when they joined their voices, reaffirmed the magic of performance, it was in Todo el Mundo Canta where the debut of the Hermanas Nuviola, Lourdes and Aymée, took place.

The Nuviolas realized that we could sing together from a very young age. Their mother showed them the musical map so that Aymée would do the second voice, and filled them with love for music, for composition and singing. So, while still children they began to sing traditional trova songs mainly, as well as compositions by their mother and stepfather. They went to the Casa de la Trova, to public activities in the neighborhood and invitations from friends who enjoyed their art; but the best was the room of their own home, always with the windows open, in the heart of Havana, where the entire neighborhood paraded by and witnessed the beginning of the duo in the world of art.

Participating in Todo el Mundo Canta was tremendous joy, a great discovery of talents, of possibilities, of great friendships that still endure today, of tears, of many moments of tension, of disappointments; in short, everything that a competition brings. She learned a lot not only about singing and music, but also about life and people, and was given the opportunity to experience fame and its price for the first time, as well as the affection of the public.

Later the duo joined the group of Pachito Alonso and his Kini Kini, which forced them to project themselves to large stages and a large audience. It was a school that trained them. With them they performed in all the important places in Cuba and in many countries, they met and alternated with great artists. It was ten years of intense work that meant comprehensive training in their career.

Subsequently she settled in Costa Rica and then in Mexico, she had the hope of opening new paths in her music, but emigration was never a plan. So she began to work in that Costa Rica, without anyone knowing her, except many Cubans living there. When you start in a place you begin to realize how things really work, and as the days went by she knew that she needed time to achieve what she longed for or, at least, to convince herself that there she would not achieve her goal. It is starting from scratch in each place where you step, because if you haven't had proper international projection, what happens within a locality or country stays there. So the path has been very difficult, but very interesting.

Her idea was always to settle somewhere from where she could better develop her career, and that is what she has done in Miami. So nowadays she not only works as a singer and musician, but has also been recognized as an actress and has great plans at this moment in the world of acting.

Although she has stood out greatly as a female interpreter of Cuban son, she also interprets, in a very particular way, ballads, songs, Brazilian music and others, at times accompanying herself playing the piano, transmitting to the listening public something very special.

"La sonera del mundo" grew up listening to Benny Moré and Elena Burke in her native Cuba and fell in love with the music of Celia Cruz when she discovered her off the island. It was during a trip to Spain in the late 80s that the Cuban artist heard the repertoire of her legendary compatriot and came to know her personally a few years later in Mexico. Nuviola has said: "The Dominican singer Johnny Ventura introduced her to me and I was fascinated. On that occasion she took off some earrings she was wearing and gave them to me. I gave her mine. It was a sign of affection. She told me: 'This career is difficult,' but she encouraged me", she recalls.

It was at the iconic Hoy Como Ayer club in Miami, during a concert by her friend Amaury Gutiérrez, that her partner—Univision executive Paulo Simeon—surprised her by handing her an engagement ring in front of everyone present. "It was one of the most emotional moments of my life".

Aymée is grateful first and foremost to her mother and to each teacher she had during all her years of study in Cuba and outside of it, to mentors like Miguel Paterson, the ICRT, Vicente Rojas, Jorge Luis Pacheco and many others who guided her from the beginning. Colleagues like Amaury Gutiérrez, Oscar de León, Rey Ruiz, Paulo FG, David Calzado, Manolito Simonet, Chucho Valdés, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Ed Calle, Ángel Arce, Raúl del Sol, Bayron Ramos, Orlando Guanche, Rayner Marrero and Pachito Alonso. Producers like Sergio George, Omer Pardillo, Jorge Ferro, Fabio Díaz, Vilela, Alberto Aira, Gilberto Dihigo and others.

Currently she resides in Miami City, has been nominated for the Billboard Latin Awards for her production Corazón Sonero. Nominated for CubaDisco 2014 for the CD Intimidad.

Aymee Nuviola has played the role of Celia Cruz in the Celia series produced by Telemundo. For that Nuviola studied Celia's life as well as her gestures to be able to capture her essence. "It gave me a lot of feeling to know more about her, who was a very caring person, very loved by people, very respectful of people, of her family, of her husband. She was a woman who had a lot of energy, who had character and who made sometimes painful decisions", she adds about La Guarachera de Cuba.

Nuviola is putting the finishing touches on a new album produced by Sergio George that pays tribute to Celia, with new versions of her hits, and admits that this acting interpretation marks "a before and after" in her career.

MUSICAL INFLUENCES

Classical music, Jazz, Pop, Bossa nova, Cuban son, Bolero and Filin.

MAIN VOCAL RECORDINGS

With several of the most influential groups in the history of Cuban music, including Irakeré, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, NG La Banda, Pachito Alonso, among others.

STYLE

Multi-genre artist with a wide range that goes from the most intense tempo in Cuban timba dance music, to the most delicate ballads. Incredibly gifted for improvising live, her deep and rich voice recalls Sarah Vaughn and has been compared to "the vivid freshness of Billie Holiday".

Her versatile talent allows her to traverse different genres, from jazz, salsa, timba and boleros to bossa nova, nueva trova, filin and passionate ballads.

PERFORMANCES

She has performed in practically all 5 continents from her native island Cuba, to Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama, Brazil, Spain, Italy, France, Holland, Hungary, and in various places in the United States, including the emblematic Madison Square Garden and the Dolby Theatre among others.

MAIN COLLABORATIONS

Salsa Giants World Tour with Sergio George; Omara Portuondo, Diego El Cigala, Fania All Stars, Chucho Valdés, Gloria Gaynor, Johnny Ventura, Oscar D'León, Rey Ruiz, Cheo Feliciano, Rubén Blades, Amaury Gutiérrez, Luis Enrique, "Guantanamera" of "Playing for Change" among others.

IMPORTANT VENUES

In 2015 she was invited to participate in the most important audiovisual event in Puerto Rico, «EL Especial del Banco Popular».

Aymée closed with a tribute to Celia Cruz at the historic Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, at the first Show of the «Latinamerican Music Awards» in 2015 and repeated closing the same event in 2016 with the song «Bailando todo se olvida» a single that reached #1 Tropical on the Billboard chart in late 2016, both events broadcast in the United States by NBC Universal and Telemundo.

She was one of the most outstanding artists at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam 2017 with favorable reviews in several major jazz magazines.

Also, Aymée has the honor of being the protagonist in the Series about the life of Celia Cruz that aired in the United States on Telemundo and in 45 other countries, in addition to being found on NETFLIX.

Later in 2016 she was part of the cast of the film «Double Play» as an actress and singer, a Hollywood production directed by renowned American director Ernest Dickerson.

IN 2014 she was selected among the 25 most influential figures in Miami by the newspaper NEW TIMES, she was also given the key to the city of Miami and the day of Aymée Nuviola (February 10) was proclaimed by Mayor Tomas Regalado.

Aymée is the first Afro-Latina in Spotify history to represent the Black History Month annual celebration in the United States.

Aymée's music is an island without borders, open to the world, kind, optimistic, intelligent and willing to share her most personal and intimate truths with the world.

Winner of a Latin Grammy in 2018 with her album «Como anillo al dedo» as best tropical fusion album, nominated for Cubadisco 2018 in the danceable music voices category with the same album, for Latin Grammy 2014 and Grammy 2015 with the album "First Class to Havana" as best Salsa album and best Tropical album, She has also collaborated on multiple Grammy-winning albums, the latest being "No quiero llanto" by Septeto Santiaguero in 2016.

She has also been nominated for three consecutive years, 2014, 2015, 2016 to the prestigious Cubadisco competition, as best singer-songwriter and best popular music album with the productions "En la intimidad" "First Class to Havana" and "El regreso a la Habana" the latter produced by master Sergio George.