Idania Valdés Casuso

Cuban singer, heir to a rich musical tradition. Her grandfather is Amadito Valdés, clarinetist and saxophonist, pioneer of jazz band orchestras in Cuba, and her father, Amadito Valdés (son), is the renowned percussionist who has performed with groups such as Estrellas de Areito, Buena Vista Social Club, and Afro Cuban all Stars.

At the age of seven, she began her musical studies at the "Manuel Saumell" school specializing in piano and later entered the "Amadeo Roldan" Conservatory where she studied Choral Direction. She began her professional work with the female groups Habaneras Son and Musas Son.

She participated as a guest on the album by Amadito Valdés (son) Bajando Gervasio, nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards. In 2005, she was invited to perform several songs on the CD Rhythms del Mundo, an important recording production in which Cuban artists collaborate with great international exponents such as: Sting, Aquila Rose, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead, Maroon 5, U2, Quincy Jones, Amy Winehouse, among others. All in favor of the fight against climate change and global warming.

Evidence of the artist's versatility is her foray into cinema. She stands out especially in the documentary L' Oro di Cuba by Italian filmmaker Giuliano Montaldo, as well as in the film Chico & Rita, nominated for the 2012 Oscar awards, which tells the love relationship between Chucho Valdés and Rita Labelle, in which Idania performs the songs of Labelle herself.

She has shared the stage with great names in Cuban music, such as in the concert "Con Vivencias" by Rosita Fornés at the Karl Marx, where she shared the stage with Farah Maria, Lourdes Torres, Waldo Mendoza, among others.

Since 2002 and to the present day, Idania is part of the group of artists of the Buena Vista Social Club project, in which she shares the stage with great figures of Cuban culture at a world level such as Omara Portuondo, Orlando "Cachaito" López, Manuel "El Guajiro" Mirabal, Eliades Ochoa, Amadito Valdés, Barbarito Torres, among others.

With this formation, she has completed successful tours throughout the USA, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, performing in important theaters and concert halls around the world.

Idania Valdés is one of the most relevant voices in the current musical landscape, and is also the youngest voice of the Buena Vista Social Club orchestra; she alternates with her own project, in which she recreates traditional Cuban music fused with jazz and Brazilian influences.

Her first solo album, under the Producciones Colibrí record label and the musical production of Yusef Díaz and German Velazco, was Menos Mal, a CD where Idania performs different Cuban musical genres, using various formats and with the collaboration of great musicians such as Amadito Valdés, Jesús Aguaje Ramos, Barbarito Torres, Rolando Luna, Julito Padrón, Alexander Abreu, Jorge Luis Chicoy, Oliver Valdés, Rodney Barreto, Gastón Joya, Jesusito Cruz, singer-songwriter David Torrens, the rumba group Clave y Guaguancó, Juan Formell and Los Van Van, among others. This CD won the Cubadisco Award 2014 in the Cancionística category. A year later, she received a Special Award at the Cuerda Viva Festival.

Confessions of Idania Valdés

The challenge of being the daughter of a great musician: It's real, but in my case I recognize that I began to feel that "pressure" greatly when I joined Buena Vista Social Club. Then some people would say: "Ah, the singer? Yes, Amadito's daughter," or "Of course, Amadito's daughter." Without a doubt, I had to work much harder so that people would realize that yes, I am Amadito Valdés's daughter, but I was there above all for my talent, for my professionalism, for my dedication.

The student stage: It's difficult to navigate through this type of specialized teaching schools, where high-rigor competitions abound as they always do. Sometimes it's forgotten that their students are children and they're seen as studying machines. Perhaps that at some point "shook" my ground a bit, but certainly I was a very happy child…..

The contribution of Buena Vista Social Club: It's the most important thing that has happened in my career so far and I believe it will remain at that status forever. It can't be different when it has been the flag of Cuban music in the world. Can you imagine what that could mean for an inexperienced 20-year-old girl? Having the privilege of sharing the stage with those personalities, with those masters? It's an invaluable gift that life gave me, and what I did was make the most of it……..

Her audience: Wonderful. The truth is that things have gone well for me. Especially in this more recent stage in which I've had a bit more prominence. The audience has come up to me to ask why they don't give me more songs to sing, but my answer is invariably the same: I am part of the band. I don't want or deserve prominence. The prominence is for the leaders who continue with us, in this case Eliades Ochoa and Omara Portuondo…..

Individual career: Look, while I have been part of the most significant project in Cuban music, I have taken on the task of advancing my own career. It's not now that Buena Vista Social Club is on standby that Idania is organizing her career. No, I've been doing that for more than five years: with an album titled Menos mal, awarded at Cubadisco; being the star of Chico & Rita, the film that was nominated for the 2012 Oscar awards and winner of the Goya, by the renowned director Fernando Trueba and the famous cartoonist Javier Mariscal, where I shared credits with the great pianist Bebo Valdés (Chico); singing in the CD Rhythms del Mundo, alongside Omara and Ferrer, but also with Sting, Aquila Rose, Coldplay, Maroon 5, U2, Quincy Jones, Amy Winehouse...