Zorayma Pérez Corominas

Young interpreter of Cuban song who encompasses various genres with a clear preference for bolero—she is undoubtedly a luxury songwriter, a young talent of Cuban music who decided to forge a path in a new land.

At three years old, Sory began singing in children's programs on Cuban Television, including "Que siempre brille el sol" and "Mundo de Fantasía". Shortly after, she began studying piano at the Manuel Saumell Conservatory of Music. After completing the elementary level and participating in various specialty competitions, she continued her piano studies at the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, where she finally graduated in Choral Direction in 2001, at 19 years old.

Those years studying at both conservatories provided her with all her musical knowledge. She learned not only music, piano, and choral direction, but also how to see life from another perspective and develop herself as an artist.

Professionally, she began singing as a member of the chorus at the well-known Havana nightclub La Macumba, then with the traditional Cuban music quintet 5pa´ti, as lead vocalist, part of the Joven Son project sponsored by EmiMusic of Spain.

As a performer, she worked with Santiago Alfonso in the cabaret of the Gran Casino de Montecarlo, in the Principality of Monaco. Working with Santiago Alfonso was her first professional experience. By his side she learned much, and the cabaret was the space that gave her perspective on stage and contributed to her career as a soloist.

Later she had her venue at the Arte-Habana shop, on the Boulevard de San Rafael in Havana. In Cuba she has sung in prestigious nightclubs, sharing the stage with the main figures of Cuban song, in addition to performing on radio.

She performed at different venues in Havana such as Dos Gardenias and La Casa del Habano, and participated in various television programs.

She held her first concert at the Theater Room of the Museum of Fine Arts. It was one of the most important moments of her life and her career. Under the musical direction of Lino Lores and with very young but incredible musicians, a repertoire was created that showed Sory in her true dimension.

The CD Sory was the key that opened the door to the media: like her first child. It was Bis Music (her record label) and Dagoberto González, the music producer, who offered her the possibility of her songs being broadcast. The album was nominated for the Cubadisco Award, in the songwriting category in 2005.

Déjame ser is her second album, also under the Bis Music label of ARTex; which won the Cubadisco Award 2010, in the songwriting category.

Working in the group La Barriada left marks on her career, singing alongside Pablo Milanés, working with Compay Segundo's group, and being under the guidance of maestro Lizt Alfonso in the Musical "Amigas"; she was with her and the company for four beautiful years: national tours, productions at the Karl Marx Theater; international tours to many countries around the world. After Amigas, Sory became a figure followed by the Cuban public, who had valued her before.

At 33 years old she made one of the most difficult decisions of her life
I was 33 years old. I looked at myself in the mirror and asked, where am I going, is this what I want for myself? And I said 'yes, it's time for a change'.

"It was very difficult for many reasons, above all because I had achieved a very beautiful career in Cuba and I had heard many times that Miami was the graveyard of Cuban artists. She felt that in Cuba, her life was stagnating. And when she says life, she speaks in general. She is a singer, an artist; but also a human being. And so she decided to move to Miami and face new challenges.

In that city she decided to have her son Diego and there she became a single mother, living in Miami changed her life, made her grow as an artist and as a human being. She continues singing, she has not stopped doing it and does not believe she will ever stop. But she has also done and does other things.

She was a tobacco seller in a store on Calle 8, which, although it didn't sell much, gave her an immense wealth in learning English. She was a student at a very prestigious academy called Encore Academy of the Arts, step by step, struggling hard with the learning system, they gradually gave her students, and now she has been in teaching for almost four years, in love with that profession and with her students' progress.

Currently she works as a vocal coach and singing teacher, to which she devotes more effort each day, because she has discovered that she really enjoys it. Knowing that children, adults, and great artists benefit from her help provides her with inexplicable satisfaction, and at the same time there is feedback, because she learns much from them as well.

She is also a music teacher at a Catholic school, and as if that were not enough, for the past few months she has been working with the renowned Cuban singer-songwriter Descemer Bueno.

Sory is a mezzo-contralto; her timbre is rather deep although over the years and with practice her range has risen. She doesn't have a powerful voice but rather a very melodic one.

"I am a singer, plain and simple. I move between various genres: bolero, jazz, song, trovadorismo, traditional Cuban music, according to the characteristics of my voice. I cannot stand being pigeonholed," she expressed in an interview conducted by journalist Julia Osendi.

International Tours
Ecuador- V Encounter of Solidarity with Cuba.
Japan- Tour with the group Traje Nuevo (three trips to Japan)
China- Nine-month tour accompanied by the 2001 IberJazz Award winner, guitarist and composer Jorge Luis Triana.

Awards
Winner of second prize in the Eduardo Saborit Competition, 2005, performing a song by Pedro Romero.