Waldo Mendoza, 20 years of giving away music and love
Admitting to being a hopeless romantic and always singing about love is a brave thing to do at a time when the most diverse genres dominate the music market.
This is how the popular Cuban singer and composer Waldo Mendoza describes himself, who is celebrating twenty years of a solo artistic career with a series of events called 20 Años. Bendito tiempo.
Celebrations will begin with a concert on Saturday, May 13, at 9:00 p.m., in the Amphitheater of the Historic Center of Havana, dedicated to Mother’s Day.
At a press conference, he said that the celebration will take place throughout the current year and until 2024, sponsored by the Empresa de Grabaciones y Ediciones Musicales, EGREM, together with its agency of artistic representation Musicuba.
From the Café Cantante Mi Habana of the National Theater of Cuba, where he has been meeting every Saturday for two decades, Waldo Mendoza confessed how musical pieces come to him, «because they come with every step of life and walking with the family.»
His beautiful, harmonious and in-tune voice and elegance on stage allow him to perform all the musical genres of songs that have made him the romantic voice of Cuba.
His great Cuban roots are also expressed in traditional music, such as the record Santiago en mí, «a gift I gave myself,» said the popular musician, made with the tres player Fernando Dewar as a record producer and the accompaniment of the Septeto Santiaguero, Ecos del Tivoli and outstanding musicians belonging to Son de Cuba, Agency of Artistic Representations in Santiago de Cuba.
And as his celebration campaign is called, 20 Años. Bendito tiempo, Waldo Mendoza has also called the DVD that celebrates this significant date, with 23 pieces of his own, in general, and the collaboration of another prestigious composer, Alex Díaz. Five video clips are also included: Ángel, Chiquitica, Cuéntale, Qué lindo es and Tinieblas.
Other projects include the Chocolate con Café Festival in the city of Veracruz, Mexico; an extension of the event in Guantánamo, where he is also an «adopted son».
Waldo is the creator and Honorary President of the International Chocolate con Café Festival, a cultural event that has become an integrating project linking culture, science, community development, local actors, business and entrepreneurial participation, and solidarity cooperation, as a contribution to the development of the people of this region.
And as part of the agenda, he will perform in different neighborhoods and communities of the Cuban capital and in the provinces that have supported him; performances in the cultural centers of EGREM, and the invitation to a great concert to close the summer.
The romantic voice of Cuba is preparing much more to celebrate with his audience that follows him in every performance, be it bolero, bachata, son or even guaracha. Waldo Mendoza will be there, familiar, friendly, elegant and a true Cuban.
Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez
