"Cuba: Música y Memoria" traces the island's musical story in Coral Gables, closing with a Benny Moré tribute

October 9, 2026

A Saturday concert in Coral Gables sets out to tell the story of Cuban music, from its African roots through son, bolero, guaracha and mambo, ending with a tribute to Benny Moré. "Cuba: Música y Memoria" starts at 8 p.m. on October 10, 2026, at Sanctuary of the Arts, 410 Andalusia Ave., across from Coral Gables City Hall, with tickets from $52, according to the Coral Gables Gazette and the Miami & Miami Beach visitors bureau.

The Afro-Cuban duo OKAN opens the program. It is led by Cuban-born violinist and singer Elizabeth Rodríguez and percussionist and singer Magdelys Savigne, two-time Juno Award winners who have both earned Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations. Their songs blend Afro-Cuban traditions with jazz, folk and contemporary sounds in Spanish, Yoruba and Spanglish. Maestro Lázaro Horta then represents the Spanish and European influences that reached the island, and AfroMore moves into the popular genres that grew out of that meeting of traditions.

The night closes with the music of Bartolomé Maximiliano "Benny" Moré (1919-1963), known as El Bárbaro del Ritmo. Born in Santa Isabel de las Lajas, Moré sang son, bolero, mambo and guaracha with equal command, worked in Mexico with Dámaso Pérez Prado's orchestra and in 1953 formed his Banda Gigante, which paired big-band brass with Afro-Cuban percussion. He died at just 43, but his recordings remain a cornerstone of Cuban popular music.