The book La dirección orquestal sinfónica y su expresión en Cuba (Symphonic Orchestral Conducting and its Expression in Cuba), by maestro Guido López-Gavilán, was presented this Saturday in Havana, during the closing ceremony of the Habana Clásica International Festival, at the Basilica of the San Francisco de Asís Convent.

The event was attended by Markus Glatz, director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Perla Rosales, deputy director of the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana, Luis Morlote, president of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), as well as relevant Cuban musicians and researchers.

During the presentation, the maestro thanked the people who accompanied him during the research, as well as the team that made possible the publication of this issue, which is the result of his research for the degree of Doctor of Science in Arts from the Higher Institute of Arts (ISA).

It also addresses the main milestones of symphonic orchestral conducting in Cuba, compiles information on concerts and conductors that were fragmented in music dictionaries, essays, and musicological reviews during the period between 1922, when the first symphonic orchestra was founded in the country, and 2022, when the first century of this event will be celebrated.

As a reference material, its purpose is to become a bibliography of obligatory consultation for the subject of Symphonic Orchestral Conducting in the teaching system of this specialty in Cuba, and to instruct in the fundamentals of this discipline, essential for those who aspire to become future professionals.

In this context, Claudia Acevedo, representative of the publishing house Aurelia Ediciones, highlighted the collaboration with the Youth Art Fund (YAF) in the publication of this documentary source that will contribute to the training of orchestra conductors.

With this volume, illustrated by Giselle Lucía Navarro, designer, writer, and visual artist, winner of the call for young Cuban designers and visual artists who collaborate with the platform, YAF opens a powerful channel for the dissemination of proposals with a research slant, exploring new ways that contribute to benefit the professional growth of artists in training, graduates or self-taught artists by offering them opportunities and resources to stimulate academic exchange.