Guitar

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February 21, 2021
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Cuban classical guitarist Zuleida Suárez ia co-founder and director of Con-Trastes Guitar Duo and co-director of Sonantas Habaneras Guitar Orchestra conducted by the Cuban guitarist Jesus Ortega. .

She has performed in many national and international festivals , including the International Guitar Contest and Festival of Havana, Miami International Performance Festival of Miami Beach, International Contemporary Music Festival of Havana, Identidades Guitar Festival, Brouwer´s Chamber Music Festival, Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival, and Miami International GuitART Festival.

She premiered some of the important Cuban composers’ works, including the 2019 Cuban premieres of “Por las Calles de Mi Habana Vieja” by Alexis Rodríguez in a concert celebrating the 500 years of Habana City foundation and “Música para Oaxaca” by Orlando Jacinto García for two guitars and strings quartet,  as well as the world premiere of “Invisible Words” for guitar and piano by the Cuban composer Eduardo Morales-Caso with pianist Marita Rodríguez and “Catálogo de Búhos” by the Colombian composer Santiago Barbosa Cañón with Con-Trastes Guitar Duo. In 2018, she performed the Cuban premieres of “Fuego de la Luna” by Eduardo Morales-Caso during the 31st edition of the International Contemporary Music Festival of Havana and “Serenade for two Guitars” by the French composer André de Jolivet with Con-Trastes Guitar Duet. In 2017, she performed the Cuban premiere of”Concierto para dos guitarras, Oboe y Orquesta de Cuerdas” by Brazilian composer Radamés Gnattali with Con-Trastes Guitar Duo, Daniel Ruiz and Habana Chamber Orquestra. Suárez performed the world premiere of “Vague et Divague” by Edmundo Vásquez in 2015 and Cuban premiere of “Oyún” by Carlo Domeniconi, for two guitars and chamber orchestra with Con-Trastes Guitar Duet and Habana Chamber Orquestra in 2014 when she also made her debut as a conductor with Sonantas Habaneras Guitar Orchestra.

She has toured in France twice with Con-Trastes Guitar Duo and Habana Guitar Quartet. She also toured nationally several times with Sonantas Habaneras Guitar Orchestra in Cuba. Suárez has conducted and performed in many prestigious concert halls in Cuba, including Basílica Menor del Convento de San Francisco de Asís, National Theatre of Cuba, Iglesia de Paula, Amadeo Roldán Theatre and Gran Teatro de La Habana.

In 2012, she recorded “Jesus Ortega and Cuban Guitar” and “Cuban Landscape with Sonantas”, a double album with Sonantas Habaneras Guitar Orquestra under the Colibri music label. In 2014, she recorded the first and highly acclaimed album “Contrastes” with Con-Trastes Guitar Duo, an independent production with the collaboration of the Saiz Brother´s Association and the Noruega Embassy in Cuba. She has also recorded with Cuban singer Liuba Maria Hevia under Bis Music label. In 2017, she recorded Retratos, the second album of  Con-Trastes Guitar Duet and in 2018 recorded in to the double album of the Cuban Violist Anolan González “Tres Piezas para Guitarra y Viola” by the Cuban composer Carlos Fariñas.

Born in Havana, Cuba, on July 7, 1982, Suárez started playing guitar at the age of 10 at Alejandro Garcia Caturla Music Conservatory and continued her studies at the National School of Music with the professors Jesús Cantero and Martín Pedreira.  She studied with Rosa Matos at the University of Arts in Havana, Cuba, and graduated with a BM degree in guitar performance in 2006.

She teaches guitar at the University of Arts in Havana, Cuba and Northern Caribbean University in Jamaica. She also directs the Guitar Department at Manuel Saumell School of Music in Havana. She is a member of the National Center for Concert Music (CNMC), Cuban Union of Writers and Artist (UNEAC), and Saíz Brother´s Associations (AHS).