Gonzalo Rubalcaba Opens Festival El Mundo en un Piano in the Canary Islands

December 3, 2021

Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, winner of two Grammy Awards and two Latin Grammy Awards, opened yesterday, December 2nd, at the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus in the Canary Islands the prestigious Festival El Mundo en un Piano.

The musician performed a repertoire marked by his musical references after 40 years of career. The first ones, Rubalcaba said, based in Miami, were those of his family, who for more than six decades dedicated themselves to music and dance in Cuba.

"An artist has to be able to provoke beyond the space where he plays," Rubalcaba said about the reduced capacity at his concert on Thursday, December 2nd.

One of the works he performed, "El cadete constitucional," is a composition by his grandfather, who was the director of a military band and created this danzón, which became the dance of the moment in the 1930s in Cuba. He also played other piano classics, such as "Lágrimas Negras" and "El Manisero," pieces by Cuban Ernesto Lecuona.

He also performed "First Song" and "La Pasionaria," two works by jazz musician Charlie Haden, a genre that captivated him and to which he has dedicated himself since adolescence, and from which he also performed "Peace," by Horace Silver.

The Cuban also improvised and "jumped from one rhythm to another" in what was his last performance in Spain before returning "home" to rest. His tour through this country began on November 2nd.

Finally, he said that music has accompanied him since childhood, as his home was always a gathering place where rehearsals and performances took place. At only nine years old he entered a classical music school, although from his father, Guillermo Rubalcaba, he learned "how to approach genres and studies."

According to musician and director of La Fábrica de La Isleta, José Alberto Medina, organizer of this festival, they needed to count on a musician of the stature of Gonzalo Rubalcaba. The Cuban is again nominated for the 2022 Grammy Awards for his work "Skyline" in the category of best instrumental jazz album.

The festival will conclude on December 6th with four Canarian pianists: Alexis Alonso, Rayko León, Cristóbal Montesdeoca and Medina himself, who will perform their own compositions and improvisations in the multipurpose room Jerónimo Saavedra.