Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez

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He was born in San Antonio de los Baños, province of La Habana, Cuba. His father was Dagoberto Rodríguez Ortega, from Vereda Nueva who as a child was an agricultural worker; during World War II he cut diamonds and later was an upholsterer and cabinetmaker. His mother is Argelia Domínguez León, daughter of a family of 11 siblings, some of them workers in the tobacco industry and almost all with musical vocation.

Silvio arrived in the capital in 1951. In 1954 he did his preparatory piano studies at the La Milagrosa conservatory, under the tutelage of its director, Margarita Pérez Picó. In 1962 he was an apprentice of Virgilio Martínez at the Mella weekly publication, where he later began as a comic strip artist. In 1963 he completed basic secondary education. Then he enrolled in plastic arts at the San Alejandro Academy and began taking private piano lessons with Amelia Fabre. These activities were interrupted by the first call to Compulsory Military Service and he was in the army between April 1, 1964 and June 12, 1967. In the military camps he began playing guitar and composing songs.

The day after being demobilized, on June 13, 1967, invited by maestro Mario Romeu, he made his debut on the television program "Música y Estrellas". A month later he participated in the recital "Teresita y nosotros", which the founders of the literary magazine El Caimán Barbudo organized as a tribute to troubadour Teresita Fernández.

From then on he did not stop singing in study centers and workplaces, theaters, military units, parks and various gatherings. Shortly after, at the initiative of Juan Vilar, he became the host of Mientras Tanto, a television program featuring innovative cultural proposals that achieved notable viewership.

On February 18, 1968, invited by Haydee Santamaría, along with Pablo Milanés and Noel Nicola he held a concert at Casa de las Américas that is considered foundational for the generation of troubadours who would five years later initiate the Movement of the New Trovador.

One night, in early 1969, he was invited to ICAIC along with Leo Brouwer and was among the first to hear Alfredo Guevara speak about the Experimental Sound Group, a project of which he soon became a founder and where he studied with Leo himself, as well as with Frederic Smith and Juan Elósegui.

From September 1969 to January 1970 he sailed with Cuban fishermen on the seas of western Africa, aboard the ships Playa Girón and Océano Pacífico.

In 1974, with Noel Nicola, he formed the Cuban delegation to the Festival "7 Días con el Pueblo", in the Dominican Republic. In 1976, while the invasion of apartheid South Africa was occurring, he volunteered to the People's Republic of Angola where, with Vicente Feliú and magician José Álvarez Ayra, he was part of an artistic brigade that toured the combat fronts.

From 1977 his international projection diversified across America and Europe. In 1982, in Stockholm, Olof Palme personally took him to sing at a meeting of the Socialist International.

Silvio has performed numerous concerts for massive audiences. He has written and recorded hundreds of songs and has composed music for film, theater and dance. He has platinum and gold records earned practically throughout Latin America.

In 1985, in San Remo, Italy, he was awarded the Luigi Tenco prize for singer-songwriter. He is Distinguished Citizen of several cities in his country and in Latin America.

On January 28, 1989, next to the José Martí statue at the summit of Cuba's highest peak (Turquino), the "Por la Patria" tour began, accompanied by the group Afrocuba, with which he would perform 29 concerts that would culminate in La Habana's Revolution Plaza, before more than 200,000 people.

In March 1990, at the National Stadium in Chile, he starred in a concert with Chucho Valdés and Irakere that is still considered the one with the highest attendance in that country's history. In 1995 he was proposed by Gabriel García Márquez as a jury member at the Cinematographic Festival of Cartagena de Indias, where he was given the keys to the city. On different occasions he has been a special guest at guitar festivals in Córdoba (Spain) and La Habana. In the 90s his candidacy for the Prince of Asturias Prize was proposed by Spanish citizens.

In Cuba he has received multiple awards; among them the orders of First Degree Félix Varela and Julio Antonio Mella. He has also obtained several EGREM prizes (recording industry) and from the Benny Moré Song Festivals (for composition), as well as four sunflowers from the popularity poll of the magazine Opina, plus a crystal sunflower.

In 1996 he published the book Canciones del Mar, which contains 62 texts written while sailing with fishermen.
In his country he has shared the stage with transcendent artists and groups: Mario Romeu, Bola de Nieve, Esther Borja, Celina González, Leo Brouwer, Omara Portuondo, Elena Burque, Teresita Fernández, César Portillo, Miriam Ramos, Frank Fernández, Afrocuba, Chucho Valdés and Irakere, Diákara, Anabell López, José Antonio Méndez, Marta Valdés, Juan Formell and Los Van-Van, Rey Guerra, Sara González, Liuba María Hevia, Compay Segundo, Manuel Duchesne, the National Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Brindis de Salas, Faustino Oramas, Tata Güines, Ernán López-Nussa, Óliver Valdés, Trovarroco, Andrés Alén, Adalberto Álvarez, José María Vitier, Noel Nicola, Amaury Pérez, Vicente Feliú, Pablo Milanés, the Original Orchestra of Manzanillo, Robertico Carcassés, Pancho Amat, Manguaré and many others.

Internationally he has performed with Víctor Jara, Los Parra, Inti-Illimani, Nara Leao, Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento, John Williams, Luís Eduardo Aute, Joan Manuel Serrat, Pi de la Serra, Joaquín Sabina, Mercedes Sosa, Víctor Heredia, León Gieco, Juan Carlos Baglietto, Daniel Viglietti, Pete Seeger, José Alfonso, Amparo Ochoa, Sonia Silvestre, Víctor Víctor, Roy Brown, Danny Rivera, Guardabarranco, Zanampay, Cecilia Todd, Lilia Vera, Soledad Bravo, Tania Libertad, Ricardo Flecha, Juan Luís Guerra and others.

His songs have been recorded by performers from different parts of the world. His texts have been translated, namely into Quechua, Portuguese, Basque, French, Swedish, Danish, Italian, German, Catalan, Chinese, Korean, Guaraní, Japanese and English.

Various books and documentary films have been published about his work.

Among his activities in recent years stand out the donation of the song "Escaramujo", for a UNICEF album on children's rights; the donation of the music for the Argentine film "Fotos del alma", the first Latin American film to address the AIDS problem; his participation in benefit concerts for "La Capilla del Hombre", a tribute to Our America by Ecuadorian painter Oswaldo Guayasamín; the concert at Casa de las Américas to raise funds for those affected by flooding in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina.

Due to the large number of musicians graduating from the Schools of Art and the difficulties in recording these talents, Silvio Rodríguez promoted the construction of three recording studios in Cuba: "Abdala" and "Ojalá", in Habana, and "Eusebio Delfín" in the city of Cienfuegos.

On October 17, 1997, Silvio Rodríguez sang La Era Está Pariendo un Corazón at the funeral of the remains of commandante Ernesto Che Guevara, at the Memorial bearing his name in the city of Villa Clara. He also attended the commemorative events for the 30th anniversary of the guerrilla fighter's death, held in Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires.

In 1997 he was named UNESCO Artist For Peace. In 2000, with President Fidel Castro he unveiled a statue of John Lennon in the Havana park that bears the name of the British musician. In September 2003 he was invited to the commemorative events for the 30th anniversary of President Allende's death. In 2004 he was awarded the National Prize for Music. During 2006, he received the Latin Prize for a Lifetime, from the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Music of Spain. In Cuba he received the Haydee Santamaría Medal, at the request of Casa de las Américas and the Ministry of Culture; he was named a member of the Honor Committee of the Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation for Nature and Man; the Hermanos Saíz Association named him Master of Youth.

When he turned 60, Raúl Castro—now President of the Republic of Cuba—gifted him a replica of the yacht Granma. In February 2007, the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos, in Lima, Peru, the oldest in America, granted him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa. A few days later he proposed to the Presidency of Chile a legal measure that would allow foreign artists to donate at least one concert during their visits.

From 1993 to January 2008 Silvio Rodríguez was a Deputy in the National Assembly of People's Power of the Republic of Cuba. Within Parliament he proposed including music in primary education, defended ecological causes, voted for an improvable socialism and advocated for the systematic presence of art and culture in prisons as reeducation tools.

In 2010 he did a very successful tour of Puerto Rico and the United States. He participated in a concert for the city of Medellín. He sang at the Music Festival of Ciudad Juárez and received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Jalapa, where, in gratitude, he gave a concert.

Silvio Rodríguez lives in La Habana. Since his adolescence he has practiced photography. The names of his children are: Violeta, Silvio-Liam, Omar, José Ernesto, Mauricio, Federico and Malva. His grandchildren are Diego, Cecilia and Julia. For the past 14 years his partner is flautist and clarinetist Niurka González Núñez. Since 2006 he is legally retired, but continues writing songs. Together with a group of people from his hometown, the Amigos del Río, he works to carry out actions that benefit the Ariguanabo and the forests surrounding it.

Discography of the Ojalá Label:

Year Title

1975 Días y flores
1978 Al final de este viaje
1979 Mujeres
1980 Rabo de nube
1982 Unicornio
1984 Tríptico (Volume I, II and III)
1984 Arboles (With Roy Brown)
1986 Causas y azares
1988 Oh melancolía
1992 Silvio Rodríguez in Chile
1992 Silvio
1994 Rodríguez
1996 Domínguez
1998 Descartes
1999 Mariposas
2002 Expedición
2003 Cita con ángeles
2006 Erase que se era
2010 Segunda cita
2015 Amoríos

SOME TITLES FROM:

Other Record Labels:

Year Title Label

1975 Te doy una canción Fonomusic
1977 Cuando digo futuro Fonomusic
1978 Antología de S. R. Polydor
1990 Lo mejor de S.R. Alerce Producciones
1991 Canciones urgentes Warner Bros
1992 Silvio autobiográfico ARTEX

Joint Discography:

Year Title With

1969 X anniv. of Cuban cinematography Various
1974 Cuba Sings to the Dominican Republic Noel Nicola
1979 XX anniv. of Cuban cinematography Various
1982 Silvio and Pablo Live Pablo Milanés
1984 Silvio and Pablo Live in Argentina Pablo Milanés
1985 Montevideo March 1st (Vol. I and II) Pablo Milanés
1989 The Strange Man Síntesis Group
1993 Hand to Hand Luis Eduardo Aute
1996 All Voices All Various
1997 New Trovador Anthology (Vol I,II and III) Various
1998 New Trovador Anthology (Vol I,II,III,IV) Various
2000/03 Trovadores (Vol. I, II and III) Various
2003 Songs with Santa Fe Víctor Heredia and León Gieco

As Interpreter of Other Authors:

Year Title Author

1998 Tribute to Víctor Jara Víctor Jara
1999 Vamos todos a cantar Teresita Fernández
1999 Carta de provincia Lázaro García
2000 Mira que eres canalla Luis Eduardo Aute
2001 Canciones compartidas José María Vitier
2001 Un secreto a voces Alejandro Filio
2001 Definitivamente jueves Augusto Blanca
2002 Canciones del buen amor José María Vitier
2004 Cuba Sings to Serrat Joan Manuel Serrat
2007 37 Songs by Noel Nicola Noel Nicola

All official information on the site Zurrón del Aprendiz https://www.zurrondelaprendiz.cult.cu/
Segunda cita is the official blog of Silvio Rodríguez Dominguez visit it at segundacita.blogspot.com