Since the end of September we left home to embark on a tour of five countries: Chili, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Colombia (that’s not counting the concert which began in Havana).
It has been like returning to my childhood. When I was little, before I started school, I used to accompany my parents on tour and I was behind the scenes, in my stroller, in many of these cities. This time I had to come as a musician, doing choirs and playing piano, so within the feeling of nostalgia I discovered a whole new facet of my profession.
Before leaving, we spent a whole month rehearsing every day in the studios I hope. The group, despite not having played together for quite some time, quickly picked up the repertoire with the occasional new addition. During this process we began to put together the skeleton of what would be the concert program.
Almost 4 hours of music were prepared. In fact, we joked that with all the songs we put together we could do two completely different concerts.
Of course, one already has an idea of what the order of the program will be before the first rehearsal. However, you never know until you start playing it. And, even after planning it, a lot of slight changes were made throughout the tour. That is, we could say that the program was a general guide, but not definitive.
Because of my studies I have a little more practical experience in playing academic music, which in these cases has a quite different dynamic. In short, I had never had the experience of playing the same concert so many times in public and I discovered that it is truly enriching. In front of an audience, new things are discovered about the pieces and the more they are performed, the more the interpretation is enriched.
Each concert is a completely different experience. The way we hear each other, the energy of the crowd, the voice, everything feels different as the days go by.
My participation in the concerts, with the exception of some choirs, was in a small family aside to honor dad’s colleagues who unfortunately are no longer among us. We sing “Créeme” together, like Vicente used to do [Feliú] and his daughter Aurorita; “What’s more, I forgive you.”, of noel [Nicola]whom they tell me I met at a very young age, and the mythical “Yolanda”, by Pablo [Milanés]. This section of the concert was conceived in a very organic way.
The prelude to these small “apartments” began in Spain, after the death of Eduardo Aute. Dad and I had once rehearsed “Dentro”, for a tribute that was made to him, where we never got to play it and I always really liked his song “Albanta”. So much so that I learned it on the piano and my mother recorded a video of me singing it, to send to the Autes (our Spanish family). A few months later, when the concerts in Spain in 2021, just coming out of the pandemic, dad decided to include these two songs to remember Eduardo. That was the first time we played together.
Then, in 2022, Vicente suddenly passed away and at the concerts in Mexico we played “No es facil” and “Créeme”. In 2023 Pablo followed him, and at the concert on the Isle of Youth we sang “Yolanda”.
This time we didn’t know if all the songs were going to be done as part of the program, whether to alternate them from concert to concert or put them as encores. However, since we played them together for the first time at the University of Havana Stairs concert, we knew that we couldn’t do it any other way. As dad says: “There are songs that we must continue singing,” and we decided to do it as a family.
A lot of people ask me what it’s like to play with my parents. I really enjoy it a lot. It is a very enriching experience as a musician, since both are excellent professionals. Precisely for this reason it can also be a little intimidating, but I get over that.
The whole “going on tour” thing may sound very glamorous, but I confess that, when you have been working away from home for a month, with a suitcase and washing clothes in hotel bathtubs – the laundry service is usually very expensive – you miss home. However, the company has been an immense fortune.
It felt like being in a (very well-equipped) student residence with a lot of classmates and friends who in the end end up becoming family. Inside jokes are created from everyday anecdotes and that makes time pass faster.
In free moments, sometimes at odd hours, small odysseys were undertaken in search of pizza and ice cream, birthdays, game championships and even mystical spoils were celebrated. That’s why, despite constantly moving from one place to another, with hardly any time to adapt, each place felt a little like home, because we were all together.
It filled me with affection and tenderness to meet people who love my dad so much. That’s something I didn’t notice when I was little, or I didn’t understand it, but now I do. Thinking that every person who goes to concerts has a story that connects them with their music. Being able to see and understand how all that love is the result of years and years of hard work; to treat others with respect and to be consistent. Seeing the result of their work inspires me a lot to continue studying and learning.
For me it is a very great privilege to be able to work with my family and live all these experiences together: Oliver, Jorgito, Jorge Reyes, Emilio, Rachid, Maykel, Olimpia, Enzo, Jurek, Amin, Abdito, Frank, Juli, Fer, Horacio, Héctor, Romina, Silvia, Kalo, Martín and, of course, my parents Niurka and Silvio. I was the youngest of the group, and I am still getting tremendous benefit from learning from such talented, disciplined musicians and, above all, beautiful people.
Although I missed my home and, above all, my piano, having reached the end of this journey feels somewhat bittersweet. We are tired, but happy. I hope one day to be able to make touring, more than an experience, my job, and to be able to surround myself with a team as wonderful as this, whom I can also call family.
