Fernando Daniel Bécquer Cifuentes

Troubadour and composer, Becquer began his life as a troubadour in 1989. From that moment on and to date, his performance has been marked by a distinctive seal that defines and identifies his artistic work.

His style encompasses different genres of Cuban popular music, a kind of conversational song by which many catalog him as a very singular troubadour. His charisma and interaction with the public have made him a participant in radio and television programs throughout his career.

In 1993 he enters the Félix Varela Center for Professional Musical Development, where he received guitar and popular singing classes.

He has participated in various recording productions, among them the CD La voz del diablo (2008), produced and edited by the EGREM Label, in which he participated with Tony Ávila, Yamira Díaz, Eduardo Sosa, Ray Fernández and other troubadours of his generation; CD Cubano por donde tú quieras (2007), an exclusively his album made with the Bis Music Label and produced by Emilio Vega de la Nuez; CD Los jóvenes cantan a Martí (2004), produced by the Hermanos Saiz Association and edited by the EGREM Label; CD La estrella de Cuba (2003), produced by the Hermanos Saiz Association and edited by the EGREM Label, in which he participated with troubadours Eduardo Sosa, Ariel Barreiros and Pavel Poveda; CD Definitivamente jueves (2000), produced and distributed by the EGREM Label, which contains the texts of Cuban poet Waldo Leiva musicalized by Cuban troubadour Augusto Blanca.

Part of his work is found in discographic anthologies, such as Anthologies 1 and 2, A guitarra limpia, from the Pablo de la Torriente Brau Center, the first of which was edited by the Unicornio Label.

This outstanding singer-songwriter joined the Cuban non-governmental association of young artists Hermanos Saiz (AHS) in 1991, and performs in different taverns and troubadour gatherings throughout the country. In 1992 he participated in the First Festival of this Association, where he shared the stage with troubadours of his generation.

In 1997 he participated in the Encuentro Canciones de la Rosa y la Espina, sponsored by the Casa de las Américas, from which emerged the group of troubadours Cantores de la rosa y la espina, of which he is a member.

He has taken his art to important celebrations and events. In 1999 he participated in the Puente Musical Cuba-Estados Unidos (Music Bridges) with notable figures of national and international music and in 2000 he was at the Festival de la Joven Canción Trovadoresca (Longina) held in Santa Clara.

Multiple tours, presentations, events and international festivals have also counted on his presence. Among the most important are a tour through Venezuela as part of the Misión Cultura sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of that country; Festival Universitario de Sinaloa, in the State of Culiacán in Mexico; Festival de las Artes Bambú in Honduras; Festival de Solidaridad Cuba-Venezuela 2003 and others.

In 2004 he was invited to the Caribbean Youth Day on the island of Martinique, together with his Cuban colleagues Yolo Bonilla, Kumar Mora and the rock group Tendencia; while in 2005 he was part of the artistic delegation that represented Cuba at the International Festival of Youth and Students, held in the city of Caracas, Venezuela.

Fernando Becquer has shared the stage with figures of Cuban music such as: Teresita Fernández, Marta Valdés, Sara González, Omara Portuondo, Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés, Vicente and Santiago Feliú, Noel Nicola, Carlos Varela, Frank Delgado, Gerardo Alfonso, Raúl Torres, Kelvis Ochoa, Wiliam Vivanco, Eduardo Sosa, Dúo Buena Fe, Grupo Moncada, Adrián Berazaín, Mauricio Figueral, Toni Ávila, among many other prestigious artists and groups not only Cuban but also international.

His work is well known in Cuba. As the poet, journalist, and researcher Antonio López Sánchez said: Fernando Becquer resembles his songs and his songs resemble life.

On December 8th, the 50-year-old troubadour was reported by five Cuban women who suffered sexual abuse from him, according to a report published by the independent media outlet El Estornudo.