After eight years of absence, the MatamoroSon festival will return to the streets of Santiago de Cuba from May 5 to 9, remembering the Cuban Son Day and the teacher Adalberto Álvarez.
The event will promote the presentation of the sonero septets of Santiago, one of its musical strengths, which will also reach communities far from the city.
Among the participants stand out the septets Santiaguero, Turquino, Ecos del Tivolí, Morena Son, Moneda Nacional, Son Chévere, Sol y Son, Sones de Oriente, and the orchestras Suena Cubano, Los Karachi and Sonora Santiaguera, from the catalogs of excellence of the music companies in the territory.
The opening day will be animated by the Dolores, Serrano and Céspedes parks, in the historic center, and during the opening gala night it will be held in the Plaza de Marte, dedicated to the Caballero del Son, Adalberto Álvarez.
The main venues include Heredia Street, the Sandunga patio of the Artex branch, the Aguilera and Ferreiro squares, the Alameda, the Claqueta-Bar, the Son and the Grandes halls, and the esplanades of Trocha and Carretera del Morro, of the Block J of the José Martí district and the one located in Micro-3 of the Abel Santamaría neighborhood.
Likewise, there will be a colloquium “Son Santiago”, organized by specialists from the “Pablo Hernández Balaguer” Music Museum, and the meeting and competition of tres players with the participation of professionals, amateurs and students from the local conservatory.
On May 8, the Day of the Cuban Son, floral offerings will be placed in the Santa Ifigenia cemetery before the tombs of Miguel Matamoros, Electo Rosell (Chepín) and Francisco Repilado (Compay Segundo).
The event will celebrate the centenary of “Son de la loma”, the Trio Matamoros, and the creation of the septets as musical formations, with a unique rhythm and sound in the interpretation of the genre that reached its splendor in this southeastern town.
The Son Festival, which emerged in the 1980s at the initiative of the Santiago musicologist Danilo Orozco and the support of Siboney Studies to enhance the figure of Miguel Matamoros, was the genesis of this event, which in 1994 gained international character under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and the work of Adalberto Álvarez.
