Digna Guerra Ramírez

Digna Guerra conducted her first music studies with professors Ofelia Busquet and Fe Castillo. Later she entered the Municipal Music Conservatory of Havana, specializing in piano, with Master Esther Ferrer. She completed advanced studies in choral direction with professor Horst Muller, piano with Eberhardt Rebling, and voice with Willie Feldman, at the prestigious Hochschule fur Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin (German Democratic Republic). There she obtained the highest grades in all specialties, and in recognition of her academic achievements, she received an Honor Diploma and a scholarship to study the specialty of Orchestral Direction.

Between 1965 and 1969 she was director of the Choir of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT). Between 1970 and 1972 she directed the choir of the National Opera of Cuba, which performed in works such as Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven, with the Leipzig Opera company; Halka by Stanislaw Moniuszko, with the Polish opera, and Il Trovatore by Giussepe Verdi, with the opera company of Bulgaria.

In 1973 she traveled to Poland to direct the staging of the Cuban zarzuela Cecilia Valdés by Gonzalo Roig, premiered in Europe by the Opera Lecna of Gdansk.

In 1975, by virtue of her qualities as a director and mastery of the most diverse vocal styles, fidelity and intentionality in the staging of scores and pedagogical skills in voice training, she was appointed Director of the National Choir of Cuba.

Regarding the work of this ensemble, Digna Guerra has expressed that she inherited a choir that had been founded fourteen years earlier and had been under the direction of master Serafín Pro, which required her to face a group with its own sonority. For her, if an orchestra is a great instrument in the hands of the director, a choir is also an ensemble that responds to whoever directs it, with the difference that instruments can be tuned with relative ease to adjust them to the temperament of each director, while in a choir, tuning is ultimately a matter of emotion. Her work at the head of the National Choir of Cuba has been recognized in national and international spheres.

Parallel to her artistic work, Digna Guerra worked for many years as a professor at the National Music School. In 1976, when the Higher Institute of Art was founded, she began her teaching there as department chair and professor.

In 1981 she founded the Chamber Choir Entrevoces, with which she has obtained numerous international awards for sound quality and refined interpretation of works of complex and different styles and sound textures from the world repertoire. She has also directed the Cantorías Project of the National Choir of Cuba, which groups together hundreds of children, forming a Children's Choir and a Youth Choir, which have won first prizes twice in the National Children's Choir Competitions convoked by the Alejandro García Caturla Music School.

In her intense work, it also stands out that she founded in 1996, at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, the Choir of Madrigalists, dedicated to cultivating and promoting chamber choral music. Among the main achievements of this ensemble is having participated, together with the National Choir of Cuba, in Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, under the baton of the renowned musician Leo Brouwer, with great success, highlighted by the specialized press.

In Digna Guerra's career, a significant event was in 2007, when she held the presidency of América Cantat, one of the most important international choral festivals, which was held that year in Havana in recognition of the development of the Cuban choral movement.

After many years dedicated to directing choirs and artistic teaching, Digna Guerra received in 2006 the National Music Prize of Cuba, awarded by a jury presided over by master Harold Gramatges.

Other honors granted to the eminent choral director are the Prize for Best Performance of Cuban Music, in the Chamber Music Competition of Havana, in 1990; First Prize and Gold Trophy in the category of Secular Music, Second Prize and Silver Trophy in the category of Sacred Music, and Audience Prize, in the International Mass Choral Competition of Tolosa in 1997; First Prize with Gold Certification in the category of Vocal Jazz, First Prize with Silver Certification in the category of Madrigals, Second Prize with Gold Certification in the category of Mixed Choir, and Special Prize from the German Government to the Choir with the highest point accumulation, in the Harmonie 99 International Choral Festival, held in the city of Lindenholzhausen in 1999; Third Prize and Category of International Excellence of First Level, in the International Choral Competition of Marktoberdof, Germany, in 1999; First Prize in the category of Chamber Choirs, in the International Choral Competition of Maasmechelen, Belgium, in 1999, and the Prize from the Fourth International Cuban Music Fair "Cubadisco" in 2000.

As for discography, Digna Guerra has performed an important function as choral director in the recordings credited to the Chamber Choir Entrevoces: Date una vueltecita, Aporreumbosis, O vos omnes (from the EGREM label), Una manera mejor, Qué rico é, Mi son entero (from the Unicornio record label); with the National Choir of Cuba, she has recorded the phonograms De todo Coro Son (Colibrí label) and the DVD A Capella es mi Habana (Verso Corporación).

In this discography appear both popular songs and pieces from the classical or academic repertoire. She has recorded other phonograms of thematic character, such as the album Una manera mejor with music by Juan Almeida, and Tu son entero, dedicated to the centennial of the birth of Nicolás Guillén, with texts by the poet and the collaboration of master declamation teacher Luis Carbonell.

As a solo vocalist, Digna Guerra has participated in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven; in Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi, and General Song by Mikis Theodorakis; she also made a recording of the classic of traditional Cuban trovador "Pensamiento," accompanied on piano by master Frank Fernández.

The breadth and success in the selection of her repertoire, which spans all registers of the world and Cuban musical staff, justify the artistic work of this personality of choral singing. The artist herself has stated that she enjoys her work, choral music, teaching and learning, and that the process of staging a work is the most exciting thing for her. According to master Digna Guerra, as confirmation of the lasting gift that identifies her talent, the man who sings is happier and people who sing elevate their spirit.

She is a deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power.

Awards and Recognition
Awards for first place in various competitions and festivals in Spain, Germany, Belgium, and Cuba.
Prize for Best Performance of Cuban Music in the Chamber Music Competition of Havana (1990).
29th International Mass Choral Competition of Tolosa, Spain. First Prize and Gold Trophy in the category of Secular Music (1997).
Second Prize and Silver Trophy in the category of Sacred Music. Audience Prize (1997).
Harmonie 99 International Choral Festival in the German city of Lindenholzhausen (1999).
First Prize with Gold Certification in the category of Vocal Jazz (1999).
First Prize with Silver Certification in the category of Madrigals (1999). Second Prize with Gold Certification in the category of Mixed Choir (1999). Special Prize from the German Government for being the Choir with the highest point accumulation (1999).
International Choral Competition of Marktoberdof, Germany. Third Prize and Category of International Excellence of First Level (1999).
International Choral Competition of Maasmechelen, Belgium (1999).
First Prize in the category of Chamber Choirs (1999).
Award at the 4th International Cuban Music Fair CUBADISCO in the category of Choral Music, with the CD O vos Omnes from the record company EGREM (2000).
First Prize and Grand Prize in the Voices of Tomorrow Children's Choral Competition, with the Children's Cantorías of the National Choir of Cuba (2000).
Award at the Festival of Habaneras of Torre Vieja, Spain in the category of Habaneras and Audience Prize (2004).
Cubadisco Prize 2006 in the category of Choral Music, with the CD "De todo Coro son". From the record company Colibrí (2006).
Second Prize in the category of vocal ensemble and third prize in the free category of the 36th International Choral Competition Florilege Vocal of Tours, France (2007).
International Choral Competition of Marktoberdof (2007).
Cubadisco Prize 2012 in the category of Choral Music with the CD Contemporáneos Entrevoces with the record company Colibrí (2012).
ECHO KLASSIK Prize 2012 in Germany as best choral recording of the 19th and 20th centuries for the album EL CANTO QUIERE SER LUZ in collaboration between the record companies MDG of Germany and Colibrí of Cuba (2012).
Grand Cubadisco Prize 2015 and Award in Choral Music with the phonogram ¡Oh yes!, belonging to the Colibrí label (2015).
National Music Prize.
Master of Youth Award granted by the Hermanos Saíz Association for her life's work dedicated to the formation of values in new generations.
Eternal Spiral Prize 2012 granted by the Leo Brouwer Office.
Félix Varela Order of the First Grade.
Order for Cuban Education.
Commemorative Medal for the Centennial of the Birth of National Poet Nicolás Guillén.
Raúl Gómez García Medal.
Commemorative Medal 50 Years of the National Symphony Orchestra.
Distinction for National Culture.
Distinction of Merit Mariana de Gonitch.
Gitana Tropical Distinction from the Provincial Culture Union.
Angelote Distinction of the City of Holguín.
Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of the Arts of Cuba.
Artist of Merit granted by the UNEAC (National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba).
August 23 Seal.
Havana Foundation Seal.
The Laureate Seal.
Replica of the Machete of General Máximo Gómez.
Giraldilla of Havana.
National Vanguard.
Shield of the City of Santiago de Cuba.
Shield of the City of Pinar del Río.
Distinguished Guest of the City of Bayamo.
Distinguished Guest of the City of Matanzas.
Distinguished Guest of the City of Las Tunas.
Distinguished Guest of Ciego de Ávila.
Key to the City of Santa Clara.
Recognition The Utility of Virtue.