Pianist José María Vitier Performed in Santiago de Cuba

March 20, 2024

The renowned pianist José María Vitier performed at the Dolores Concert Hall in this city, as part of the 61st Pepe Sánchez Trova Festival.

Prayer to the Virgin of Copper, Ave María for Cuba, Strawberry and Chocolate, Disappointment, At the Foot of Your Altars, Imaginary Danzón, In Vain, Tear and Love, and Festive Contradanza were pieces performed this Sunday by the also National Music Prize winner, who was accompanied by Bárbara Llanes, Abel Acosta, Eduardo Sosa, and Pancho Amat.

According to Vitier, in January 1972 he arrived for the first time in the southeastern province, where he met interpreters of the old trova such as Ángel Almenares and his son Alejandro, Pablo Armiñán, Ramón Márquez, and Miguel Ángel Justiz, who motivated him to create compositions that would move people and to explore the imagination of that musical genre, in order to be in the constant search for the piano of trova.

Regarding this, he said that this genre is associated with the guitar, but he tries to find a piano formula capable of transmitting the same intimacy and communication of that instrument in the form and style of playing.

He commented on what the Casa de la Trova of the Hero City represents for musicians from Cuba and the world, which upon revisiting on this occasion inspired him to create a brief poem.

He emphasized the importance of Santiago de Cuba in his career, as the indomitable audience always receives him with affection and remembers his performances with special appreciation.

The tres player Pancho Amat, to whom this edition of the Festival is dedicated, affirmed that the greatness of the instrumentalist lies, in part, in his vast body of work, which travels the world for the pride of Cubans.

Vitier has always put his heart into this territory and through his hands runs the guitarrero of the Santiago trovadores, he affirmed.