Jesús Evaristo Gómez Cairo

Musicologist, director of the National Museum of Music in Havana located at Calle Obrapía No. 509 between Bernaza and Villegas. He was recipient of the National Prize for Music 2018.

Gómez Cairo is a musicologist and professor. Author of books, essays and articles that include Cuban musical heritage, a subject that has also been the object of courses and lectures given in Cuban institutions and in other countries in America and Europe.

In 1989 he assumed the direction of the Information and Documentation Center for Music "Odilio Urfé", the first institution in the country that, under other names, had assumed since 1949, the preservation, study and dissemination of national musical heritage.

Since 1998 he has been Vice President of the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM) in charge of heritage and research and Director of the National Museum of Music, responsibilities from which he directs the Program for Rescue, Documentation and Dissemination of Cuban Musical Heritage.

A native of Jaguey Grande, in the province of Matanzas, he graduated from the National School of Art (ENA) in the specialties of piano and as a professor of theoretical music subjects. Later he completed advanced courses in the specialty of Musicology.

In 1989 he was appointed Director of the Information and Documentation Center for Music "Odilio Urfé", and since 1997 he has been Director of the National Museum of Music and Vice President of the Cuban Institute of Music. He was President of the CUBADISCO Prize Committee (Annual Cuban Musical Discography Competition) from its founding in 1997 until 2003. Among other recognitions, he holds the Distinction for National Culture.

On June 6, 1962 he entered the National School of Art (ENA), where he pursued music studies. He graduated from this institution in 1971 in the specialties of piano and as a Professor of theoretical music subjects. In 1973 he completed Advanced Courses from the National School of Art in the specialty of Musicology.

In 1975 he began his higher studies at the State Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography of Leningrad, USSR where he also completed his postgraduate studies in Musicology and Folkloristics, until March 1981.

In 1970 he was appointed professor at the National School of Art (ENA), where he taught Musical Appreciation and History of Music until 1972 when he moved to work at the Provincial School of Art in Holguín, in the same specialty. From that year and during several consecutive years he was a student of the musicologist, composer and pedagogue Dr. Argeliers León.

In 1973 he was appointed Advisor to the Direction for UNESCO Affairs and International Organizations of the National Council of Culture. He also completed Advanced Courses from the National School of Art in the specialty of Musicology. In September of that same year he was part of the Cuban delegation to the Consultative Meeting of the Unions of Composers and Musicologists in Berlin.

From 1982 to 1986 he was a professor of Musical Analysis and Folklore Theory at the Higher Institute of Art, and he also directed 6 diploma theses, and on several occasions was part of the Scientific-Technical Sessions Tribunal.

In 1985, he taught the Course on Alejo Carpentier's Musicological Thought at what was then the Center for Cultural Promotion (today Foundation) Alejo Carpentier.

He has given lectures, master classes and courses on music and folklore at various universities and music schools in the country, as well as in Germany, USSR, Nicaragua, Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, Italy, Poland, Colombia, United States and Dominican Republic.

Recognition
National Prize for Music 2018
"Razón de Ser" Prize, awarded by the Alejo Carpentier Center, for his research "The Musicological Thought of Alejo Carpentier" (1986)
First Prize for best text for an artistic publication (Benny Moré) in the National Graphics Competition (1997)
AMADEO ROLDÁN Diploma, "for his outstanding merits and contributions to the development of music", from the Association of Musicians of UNEAC
Diploma of Founder of the National School of Art
Diploma of Founder of the Cuban Institute of Music
"Adolfo Guzmán" Medal for his contribution to the development of Cuban music
Distinction for National Culture, granted by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cuba
Distinguished Son of Jagüey Grande, declared by the Municipal Assembly of Popular Power of that city
Adopted Son of Remedios (Villa Clara), declared by the Municipal Assembly of Popular Power of that city
Member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba and its National Council
He is a founding member of the National Commission for Musical Research of the National Council of Culture; member of the Organizing Commission of the Popular Art Festival (1973); member of the Preparatory Committee of the Festival of Black and African Cultures (1975); Vice President of the Organizing Commission of the National Meeting of Young Musicians (1979), founder of the International Guitar Festival of Havana competition (1982). He was part of the Organizing Committees of the International Festivals: of Choirs; "Benny Moré"; of Son; of Electroacoustic Music; and General Director of the International Competition-Festival "Ernesto Lecuona" (1995), among others. Member of the Ibero-American Council of Music and its Musical Documentation Group (1993-1996), President of the CUBADISCO Prize Committee (Annual Cuban Musical Discography Competition) from its founding in 1997 until 2003. Delegate to the Conference and Workshop on music policies, Bogotá, Colombia, 2009. Delegate to the III Ibero-American Congress of Culture, Medellín, Colombia, 2010. Special Guest at the International Musicology Congress "200 years of music in Latin America and the Caribbean (1810-2010)". October 2010, Mexico City.

Publications
"The Scope and Man in the Latin American Musical Universe", El Caimán Barbudo IV - 77, Havana, 1974.
"Coinciding Directions among Men of America", Music, Bulletin Casa de las Américas, no. 46, 1974.
"On the Identity of the Latin American Musician", Music, Bulletin Casa de las Américas, no. 66-67, 1977.
"About the Folklore of the Peoples of the Caribbean", El Caimán Barbudo, VI - 1979.
"About the Interaction of Genres in Cuban Popular Music", Música 83 - 4, 1980.
"Folklore: Its Role in the Formation of Musical Cultures in Caribbean Countries", Temas, 3, 1984.
"Uber die Interaktion von Genres in der popularemMusic Kubas", Beitrage zur Musikwissenschaft, 3 Berlin, 1986.
"Mozart in Alejo Carpentier", Pamphlet, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico, 1992.
"Ernesto Lecuona in the Orbit of his Creation", The Musical Art of Ernesto Lecuona, Madrid SGAE, 1995.
"Benny Moré. The Mystery of Popular Genius", Tropicana Internacional, 2, Havana, 1996.
"On Popular and General Ideas about Music and Musicality", Clave, Year I, No. 1, Havana, 1999.
"Song and Rhythm in Musicality and Collective Musical Practice", Clave, Year I, No. 2, Havana, 1999.
"Argeliers León, Teacher of All", Clave, Year 4, No.2, Havana, 2002.
"Alejo Carpentier, Cuban and Universal Musicologist", Clave, Year 4, No. 3, 2002.
"National Museum of Music: Open Chest of Sonorities". Interview by Nancy Robinson Calvet. Tropicana Internacional, No. 15, 2003.
"The Art of Leo Brouwer" and "A New Book by Leo Brouwer". Clave, Year 5, Nos. 2-3, 2003.
"Some Methodological Problems of Cuban Musicological Science, or, The Habit Does Not Make the Monk", Clave, Year 6, Nos. 1-2-3, 2004.
"Leo Brouwer: The Artist, the People, and the Found Link", in Proper Names of the Guitar Leo Brouwer. I.M.A.E. Gran Teatro, Córdoba, Spain, 2006.
"Leo Brouwer: Selected Anthology" and other writings, in: Leo Brouwer from Rite to Myth, Music Museum Editions, Havana 2009.
"Two Approaches on Genres in Cuban Music: Odilio Urfé and Argeliers León", in Clave, Havana, 2010.
"Cuban Musical Culture in Five Fruitful Decades (1959-2010)" in: Estudos Avançados, Volume 25, Número 72, May/August 2011. Publication of the Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of São Paulo. Pp. 181-196.

Books
The Musical Art of Ernesto Lecuona. (Madrid, 1995, Havana, 2005 and 2015).
Cuban Music: Some Creative Processes and Paradigmatic Figures. (2006).
National Museum of Music. Collections of Musical Instruments. Catalog, Vol. I, (collective work), Havana, Music Museum Editions, 2013.
Creation, Realization and Development of La Bayamesa, Hymn of Bayamo, National Anthem of Cuba, (pamphlet), Havana, Music Museum Editions, 2013.

Phonographic Productions
Nicolás Ruiz Espadero. Works for Piano. EGREM, 2006.
La Perla. Songs of Cuba from the 18th and 19th Centuries. PRODUCCIONES COLIBRÍ, 2007.
The Musical Treasure of Quintana Roo. PRODUCCIONES COLIBRÍ, 2008.
Lecuona All Piano. PRODUCCIONES COLIBRÍ, 2012.