The Light of Portillo

The seventh edition of the César Portillo de la Luz Interpretation Contest will be held on May 4 and 5 at the Pico Blanco cabaret of the Saint John Hotel in the Cuban capital, as part of the celebrations for the 500th anniversary of San Cristóbal de La Havana. The above was reported in a press conference held at the venue of the event, presided over by Hugo Oslé, its artistic director, who also directs the Academia de Canto Mariana Gonitch, and Luis Carlos Góngora, vice president of the Provincial Popular Power. Also present were the National Literature Prize Nancy Morejón and the singers Teté García Caturla, Lucía Altieri, Miguel Ángel Céspedes and Johana Simón, all members of the jury.

Twenty-two young singers belonging to the Gonitch will be in charge of defending the same number of songs by well-known Cuban authors. In addition to the aforementioned, the evaluating group will comprise, among others, the teachers Nelson Díaz, Mercedes Lay and Miguel Moré. On the night of the awards ceremony there will be a gala tribute to the fifth centenary of the city, which will include Miguel Ángel Céspedes, Héctor Téllez, Johana Simón and other guest artists.

On May 4, 2013, the author of emblematic themes such as Contigo en la distancia, Tú, mi delirio, Song of a Festival and Reality and Fantasy, who was born in 1922 and had a fruitful life at the service of culture, died in Havana. Cuba and the values ​​of universal song. Along with other greats such as José Antonio Méndez, Frank Domínguez, Ángel Díaz, Aida Diestro and performers of the caliber of Elena Burke, created a new musical genre known as filin, which revolutionized the sound universe of the Island and greatly influenced composers and performers of the hemisphere.

From the very year of his death, the interpretation contest that bears his name pays tribute and awards each year the César Portillo de la Luz Grand Prix, as well as a first, second and third prize and other collateral awards. The idea of ​​the contest was approved in life by De la Luz himself, who even personally appointed the musicians to whom, according to their criteria, they should be given the responsibility of accompanying the competitors.

The White Peak of the Hotel Saint John was for decades the vortex of one of the most thriving cultural movements of Cuban culture, and a point of affluence of the bohemian life of the Havana nights.

«The most beautiful Cuban song was born and grew here, here on the Peak—declared Hugo Oslé at the press conference—. César, José Antonio, Marta, Elena, Omara, Moraima were vanguards of nationalist sentiment and interpretative musical aesthetics that have made a difference to our days. Special thanks to the Ministry of Tourism, to its hotel group Gran Caribe, to the enthusiastic directors of the hotel complex Vedado-Saint John for doing justice and returning to César what really belongs to him ». And concluded: «From the Olympus of the eternal gods of the country, the teacher Cesar Portillo de la Luz infinitely appreciate what we pay him today ».