Guillermo Vilar Álvarez

Outstanding journalist, cultural promoter, screenwriter, music critic and director of important musical programs on Cuban radio and television.

His professional work has been aimed at the dissemination and critical analysis of national and foreign music in print media, radio and television. He has received, among other honors, the Distinction for National Culture in 1994, the Radio Microphone in 2000, the Eternal Spiral Prize 2011 from the Leo Brouwer Office, the Cubadisco Prize 2012 and the José Antonio Fernández de Castro Cultural Journalism Prize 2014. He is currently Artistic Director of the Submarino Amarillo Cultural Center.

Since childhood he felt especially attracted to music, but his true musical sensitivity remained latent until in his adolescence it awakened thanks to The Beatles' songs, which later also allowed him to focus his attention on the music of groups such as Pink Floyd, Yes and Led Zeppelin. Along that path, the spectrum of his musical preference opened towards the work of Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés and in general towards that of the Nueva Trova, as it also did towards that of Benny Moré, Sindo Garay and other greats of the Cuban musical universe.

He graduated with a degree in Art History from the University of Havana in 1976. With his university studies at the School of Letters, he acquired the tools that served him to conceptualize all that music and its cultural implications, which in the long run determined his professional future.

Following his graduation as a university student, he was placed that same year at Radio Progreso, specifically in the Novels and Short Stories Department. Shortly thereafter he was proposed to be transferred to the Music Department within the same radio station, where he was able to focus all his effort on realizing his dreams as a professional.

Evaluated as an A-level director of radio and television programs, he directed the radio music programs "Juventud 2000" (for 23 years) and "Encuentro con la Música" (for 15 years), of which he was also the founder. In 2013 he founded the program "Al lado del corazón" at the same station, of which he is director and also screenwriter.

In television, his work has consisted of being director, screenwriter and founder of the program "A Capella" on Cubavisión, since 1991; director, screenwriter and founder of the program "Música del Mundo" on Canal Habana, since 2005; founder of the program "Onda Retro" on Canal Educativo, for which he worked as screenwriter during the time it remained on air (from 2012 to 2013) and director and screenwriter of the program "Hágase el Arte" on Canal Habana, since September 2014.

Since 2000 he has artistically directed all the concerts in tribute to John Lennon that have been held at Lennon Park. He also serves as artistic director of the Submarino Amarillo Cultural Center, since its creation in 2011.

His book Las Muchas Cuerdas de la Cultura Cubana was published. He collaborates with publications such as El Caimán Barbudo, the newspapers Granma and Juventud Rebelde and music magazines Clave and Salsa Cubana, among others. He was in charge of the column "La Otra Cuerda" in the Digital Magazine La Jiribilla, for more than 10 years. He is a regular contributor to the Digital Newspaper Cubarte.

He has given talks and lectures at the Museum of Music, at the Center for Research and Development of Cuban Music (Cidmuc), at the House of Music in Havana and at the University of Havana, as well as at events such as Cubadisco, Caracol, Habano Festival and others related to the country's culture and music.

Prizes, recognitions and distinctions
Distinction for National Culture in 1994
Eternal Spiral Prize 2011 organized by the Leo Brouwer Office
Cubadisco Prize 2012
The Radio Microphone in 2000
Gitana Tropical Distinction in 2000
José Antonio Fernández de Castro Cultural Journalism Prize 2014, for lifetime achievement
National Radio Prize 2017.