Yilian Cañizares

"Yilian is one of the most incredible talents of the new generation of Cuban musicians, virtuous, expressive, spontaneous and with a grace that makes her the favorite of all of us." Chucho Valdés.

Born in La Habana, Yilian Cañizares studies violin in her native city, in the strictest tradition of the Russian violin school. In 1997, at the age of fourteen, she went to study violin in Venezuela. In 2000 she moved to Switzerland to complete her studies at the Friburgo Conservatory. She initially thought of dedicating herself to classical music. In Switzerland, she opened up to jazz and decided to sing. She still lives in that country and has acquired its nationality.

Yilian Cañizares: violinist, singer and composer, is one of the most interesting artists on the contemporary music scene.

Without straying from her origins, she is capable of fusing jazz, classical music and Afro-Cuban rhythms while adding her own voice that seems to come from another world.

Nowadays there are few artists as talented and versatile as Yilian, whose creations reflect the great respect she feels for the past, in total harmony with a sensibility oriented towards the future.

The success of her albums "Ochumare", an independent production launched in 2013, followed by "Invocación", under the direction of Alê Siqueira (Roberto Fonseca, Omara Portuondo), has consolidated her reputation as an innovative artist, capable of venturing and transcending musical boundaries.

She was catalogued by the French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur as "artist revelation of the year" for her great virtuosity and charisma with which she is able to sing and play violin. "My sound reflects the richness and mixture of cultures that I carry with me to this day and represents what I am: woman, Cuban, musician and citizen of the world", the artist has expressed.

Before beginning her music studies, she began singing in the group Los Meñiques with the great pedagogue María Álvarez Ríos. That was her first school, and the truth is that she does not want to stop mentioning it because she owes her a lot.

Then she began studying violin at the Manuel Saumell school with Russian professor Alla Taran. She owes all her foundation as a violinist to her; she continued at the Amadeo Roldán conservatory. At only 14 years old, Yilian obtained a study grant in Caracas, where she had the opportunity to work with an incredible French professor: Virginie Robillard who encouraged her to study in Europe. and in 2000 she moved to Switzerland to study at the Friburgo conservatory.

Yilian has performed in demanding venues such as the Olympia in Paris with public and critical success. In 2013 she was considered a rising star by the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur. In 2015 the French magazine Les Inrockuptibles selected her album Invocación among the ten best in South America.

In 2018 she launched the album Aguas, with Cuban pianist Omar Sosa and percussionist Inor Sotolongo. The following year she recorded in New Orleans the album Erzulie, inspired by the Haitian goddess of love and freedom and continuing the Afro-Caribbean trend, one of the distinctive signs of her artistic work.

And on that trajectory, last June the UN chose her song "Yemayá" to celebrate World Oceans Day. Recently the British magazine Songlines, dedicated to "celebrating the wealth of musical talent around the world", distinguished her with the double nomination of Best Artist/Best Album.

This very Cuban girl has managed to create something very difficult: a style, an unmistakable way of doing based on her elective affinities and her musical references. Not by chance has the maestro Chucho Valdés, with whom she has worked, described her as "a virtuoso, one of the most incredible talents of the new generation of Cuban musicians".

From her studies in Europe Yilian has expressed: "And, well, they accepted me with a scholarship… It was a wonderful opening as a musician, as a human being, as an artist. Coming into contact with another culture so distant from ours, so rich… learning a new language, a new way of seeing the world, of seeing art. It was, definitely, a very big change in my perception that, paradoxically, helped me to appreciate and value even more my own culture".

A short time later, the main orchestras in the area began to contact her and, once settled in Lausanne, she collaborated for six years with different ensembles.

Upon finishing her studies, Cañizares founded the band Ochumare, or "rainbow" in Yoruba, with David Brito (double bass) and Cyril Regamey (drums and percussion).

Yilian has collaborated with artists such as Chucho Valdés, Ibrahim Maalouf, Diego El Cigala, Youn Sun Nah, Omar Sosa, Dhafer Youssef, Richard Bona, Roberto Fonseca and El Comité. She teaches violin improvisation and jazz at the Ecole de jazz et des musiques actuelles de Lausana. She has remained in Switzerland and has acquired citizenship.

"Aguas", the album produced in collaboration with Omar Sosa, saw the light in October 2018. Accompanied by another compatriot, Inor Sotolongo on percussion, the duo created an intimate and personal album that reflects the viewpoints of two generations of Cuban artists living far from their land. This album is a mixture of energetic rhythms and emotional ballads that clearly reflect the unequaled musical chemistry that exists between both artists. It constitutes a powerful and unique fusion of Afro-Cuban roots, classical music and jazz.

On November 15, 2019, the new album "Erzulie" was launched, with its new formation Yilian Cañizares & The Maroons and dedicated to the Haitian deity of love and freedom. This recording was recorded in New Orleans and features the participation of numerous guests such as Christian Scott (trumpet), Michael League (double bass), Bill Laurance (piano), Bobby Sparks (organ) and Justin Stanton (keyboards).

Yilian Cañizares in dates
1997 – Obtaining a study grant in Venezuela
2000 – Obtaining a study grant in Switzerland
2008 – Award at the MJF
2013 – Launch of her first album "Ochumare"
2015 – "Invocación"
2018 – "Aguas" with Omar Sosa
2019 – First collaboration with Chucho Valdés
2019 – Collaboration with Ibrahim Maalouf
2019 – "Erzulie"

Discography
Ochumare Quartet

2009 - Caminos
2011 - Somos Ochumare

Yilian Cañizares

2013 - Ochumare, Naïve Records
2015 - Invocación, Naïve Records
2019 - Erzulie, Planeta Y

Omar Sosa - Yilian Cañizares

2018 - Aguas, Sosafunke Music Publishing
2019 - Omar Sosa & Yilian Cañizares feat. Gustavo Ovalles - Live at Elbphilarmonie, Hamburg.

Musicians

Daniel Stawinski – piano (in Ochumare and Invocación)
David Brito – double bass
Cyril Regamey – drums, percussion

In 2021 Yilian was invited by the United Nations Organization to sing her work Yemayá for World Oceans Day