Cuban Lyric Singer Blanca Varela Dies in Miami

January 27, 2023

Blanca Varela was born in the city of Camagüey on April 6, 1927, and from a very early age stood out for her impressive voice for lyric singing.

The prestigious Cuban lyric singer Blanca Varela passed away in Miami at the age of 95 from natural causes, according to her family members.

Recognized as a great lyric soprano and one of the representative voices of Cuban exile in that South Florida city, the artist died on Monday, January 23 at her home in Coral Gables, confirmed her son Ernesto Calzado to El Nuevo Herald, a publication that published an interview with the singer some years ago.

Although she began singing tangos by Libertad Lamarque on local radio, at the recommendation of a piano teacher her mother found her a singing instructor. At age 10, she traveled to Havana to participate in the competition La Corte Suprema del Arte, and in that edition she placed second.

Varela participated in several musical projects, including performing the zarzuela Cecilia Valdés, invited by maestro Gonzalo Roig, alongside tenor Panchito Naya and several recognized figures from vernacular theater on the island, the newspaper recalled.

She then continued her career with performances at the Tropicana cabaret and brought her lyric art to the most important theaters in Havana, until in 1961 she left Cuba with a false contract issued by an entertainment company from Puerto Rico with which she had worked.

In her interview for El Nuevo Herald, Varela stated that at that moment she already "knew that my departure from Cuba would be definitive."

She arrived in Miami and in 1968 resumed her career under a contract with the Sociedad Pro Arte Grateli. There she began to stand out among the community of Cuban exiles, with whom she reconnected thanks to the zarzuelas and operettas that she had previously performed in Cuba.

She retired from the stage in 1986, after 20 years of success with the company, and by then had become one of the musical voices that accompanied Cuban exiles for two decades.

After her retirement, she devoted herself to singing in her congregation of the Baptist Church to which she belonged.

The singer is survived by her children Ernesto, Luis and Blanquita, several grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and a great-great-granddaughter, according to the newspaper.