Waldo Mendoza

Cuban singer. In recent years he has become a popular artist in Cuba for the special tone of his voice in romantic music. He comes from the popular music orchestra Tumbao Habana, directed by Pascual Cabreras. Waldo Mendoza is a confident singer with excellent intonation, possessing a peculiar light tenor voice, which allows him to tackle high notes and melismas with considerable ease and flawless skill.

Waldo was born in Cotorro, but grew up in the eastern province of Guantánamo. Coming from a musical family "by blood," since except for him none have dedicated themselves professionally to music. From a very young age he was interested in singing and joined the amateur artists movement, participating in all grassroots, provincial and national festivals, always achieving one of the three top places as a soloist or trovador.

He began his university studies at the Higher Pedagogical Institute of Guantánamo, where he started as a composer, writing songs suited to his timbre and his way of interpreting. With other classmates he formed the first musical group created at the institute, which they named "Solidaridad" because it was made up of students from different specialties; with this lineup they participated in the FEU Festivals. About this stage of his life he commented in an interview given to the Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde:

"In that period everyone dreamed of being Pablo, Silvio and everyone was following that trend. We did the opposite. Nowadays some of the members of La Idea are part of the Orishas roster or work with Puerto Rican Ricky Martin."

Among his achievements was "Vivirás feliz," a song of his own composition with which he won five special awards at the National FEU Festival held in Matanzas in 1985. This same song was the most popular number on South African radio stations performed by Euclides Lomba, an Angolan singer with extensive knowledge of his country.

He then decided to change careers and began a degree in Music Education at the Higher Pedagogical Institute "Enrique José Varona". He also joined the amateur movement of the center and formed a group called "Son Imagen" where he won the grand prize at the National FEU Festival held in Camagüey. Later, as a consequence of the prize won, they were invited to the International Festival of the organization held in the city of Moscow.

Professional Career
After finishing his university studies he began working professionally in the province of Santiago de Cuba and founded the group "La idea". He performed several international tours through Europe (Germany, Czechoslovakia, Spain). Later he joined as a soloist in the show at La Maisson de Santiago de Cuba and also performed in countries such as Jamaica and Bahamas in 1995.

He also joined the orchestra "Salsa Caracol" performing at the Hotel Santiago and Santa Lucía. With this group he visited Jamaica in 1997. Back in Havana, that same year, he founded the group Tumbao Habana alongside its director Pascual Cabrera, incorporating several of his own compositions into the orchestra's repertoire. Rescuing musical genres such as ballad and bolero, he decided to form his own group.

In July 2011 he began a tour that took him through several cities in the country and in August of that same year he sang alongside young Patricio Amaro at the opening of the Holguín Carnival in Plaza de la Marqueta. Waldo Mendoza with the accompaniment of Yeni Valdés, Tania Pantoja, Vania Borges, Mario Rivera, David Álvarez, Robertón Hernández, Juan Kemell and the children's choir Niños de la Calle presented in May 2012 his album production, Desde La Habana.

Then the eternal lover of romantic music wanted to rescue musical genres such as ballad and bolero and started a solo career in ascent, currently accompanied by musicians with extensive academic training.

His most recent work Por un abrazo is a tribute to the love and altruism of Cuban doctors. Waldo Mendoza received the Popularity Award at the Adolfo Guzmán Music Competition (2007) and the one awarded by the television program Entre Tú y Yo for the most popular performer, which was conferred on him for three consecutive years (2011, 2012 and 2013). Also the Cubadisco Award (2013) for the DVD Hojas del Alma, in the Live Recording category, and the Lucas for the music video of the song Quién (2014).

Discography
Bendito tiempo. EGREM, 2005
Hojas del alma. EGREM, 2010
Desde La Habana. EGREM, 2012
Repartiendo amor, 2013