Vania Borges Hernández

Originally from Matanzas, Vania Borges comes from a family of musicians, with her father being an oboist, her mother a singer, and one of her cousins a member of the vocal quartet Gema 4. All of this influenced young Vania, who received piano and oboe lessons and in 1990 became part of the Matanzas Symphony Orchestra.

Later, now in Havana, she joins the vocal group D´Capo, thus participating in its first international tours to countries such as Mexico, France, and Japan.

For some time, Vania is part of the group Pachito Alonso y sus Kini Kini, where she meets Lazarito Valdés, then the group's pianist.

Shortly after, maestro José Luis Cortés invites her to form Las Mulatas de Fuego, where she shares the stage with Haila María Mompié and again with Lazarito. From this concept and with the same members, Bamboleo is born, under Valdés' direction.

Vania and Haila establish the look of shaved mulatas within Cuban music, causing an international impact mainly on stages in Europe and the United States. With Bamboleo, this female performer sings songs such as La soledad, Tú y yo la misma cosa, ¿Te gusto o te caigo bien? and Ya no hace falta, one of the great hits of the end of the century in Cuban danceable and popular music.

Vania's Path as a Solo Artist
Her first solo CD bears her own name as the title, and in it the singer offers Cubanized versions of one of her favorite singer-songwriters, the Spanish artist Alejandro Sanz. In this heartfelt album, Vania mixes Latin-jazz and bolero rhythms with the Iberian lyrics, achieving masterful arrangements of unforgettable songs such as ¿Lo ves?, Amiga mía, La fuerza del corazón, Corazón partío, and Cuando nadie me ve, among others.

Vania Borges is considered by Cuban critics and audiences as one of the 5 divas of modern Cuban music, an epithet she also shares with her former group companion, Haila. A curious detail lies in the fact that she is the only one of these female performers who has received academic training in the musical field, which stands out in her versatility when facing any challenge regarding musical changes and variations in rhythm and style.

Many have pointed out that Vania's voice and charisma make her the best follower of Elena Burke, the Lady of Feeling. With the modesty that characterizes her, Vania Borges accepts this comparative challenge knowing that she takes the stage to give her best in each performance.

In addition to her time with important Cuban groups of popular and danceable music, she has sung alongside figures of the most relevant national and international panorama. Among these are: Shakira, Tata Güines, Rolando Luna, Eliades Ochoa, and Alexander Abreu. Among her many recognitions, we mention the Grand Prize at the Song Festival in California and the Mother Caridad Award in France.
She is a vocalist with a very powerful and beautiful voice who has earned the affection and admiration of her people.

Vania Borges is now a consecrated Cuban artist belonging to the group of most important female singers of today. Former member of the Cuban group Bamboleo and currently works as a solo artist.

She was the winner of the popularity award at the Adolfo Guzmán competition in 2002 performing the song "¿Qué hago con la canción?" authored by Pedro Romero.

She performed the song by Germán Nogueira Gómez, Disfrútame, winner of the California Song Festival in 2009.

Since childhood, Vania took piano and oboe lessons. She graduated in oboe and theoretical subjects from the "Amadeo Roldán" Conservatory in 1989. She completed her social service in the province of Matanzas as a professor of oboe and theory.

Vania is considered a Cuban musical revelation. The young singer, announced by Jimena Beltra in December 2006, launched a self-titled album in which she performed versions of the world-renowned Spanish musician Alejandro Sanz.

This is the first solo album by the former singer of the group Bamboleo and includes the songs that made the Madrid musician popular. Vania dedicated her first solo album to the work of Alejandro Sanz in versions in the key of bolero with touches of Latin-jazz.

Already in 2002, the singer had launched herself as a solo artist with her participation in the album "Cuba le canta a Serrat"—also released by RP Music/Random—and the recording alongside Shakira of a song for an album dedicated to tsunami victims.

In "Vania," the Cuban singer performs twelve songs from Sanz's work, emotional ballads to which she gives a distinctive Cuban touch. Tata Güines participates on congas, Rolando Luna on piano, and Frank Rubio on bass. The album includes "Amiga mía," "Quisiera ser," "Tú no tienes alma," "Cuando nadie me ve," "Corazón partío," "El alma al aire," "Si tú me miras," "Los dos cogidos de la mano," "La fuerza del corazón," "Eso," "Lo ves," and "¿Y solo se me ocurre amarte?"

In 2013, she records her second album with EGREM titled "Tengo pega pega" with danceable songs under the production of Manolito Simonet and Germán Velasco. In addition to recordings made with Bamboleo, Vania participated in the Rhythms del Mundo collection albums of Buena Vista.

Vania Borges continues to stand out as a mandatory reference for the new Cuban romantic and traditional voice, one that pays homage to her authentic identity as a citizen of the 21st century, a true feat in times of fusions and deviations.

In reality, the surprise expands to new directions when it comes to boleros and sones, such as when she performs Lágrimas Negras by Miguel Matamoros alongside maestro Eliades Ochoa. But the promise was clearly established from the time when, along with Haila, she was a singer in the sensational group Bamboleo.