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“El Tosco” calls on the media to promote Cuban music

Cubadebate — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 17:26:02 +0000

Flutist, composer and pedagogue José Luis Cortés (El Tosco), one of the most distinguished Cuban instrumentalists, was presented with the 2017 National Music Prize on Saturday, March 17, for his contribution to the development and expansion of Cuban music.

In a ceremony held at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, in Havana, the leader and founder of NG La Banda, born in 1951 in Santa Clara and a graduate of the National Arts School in the specialty of the flute, was presented with the Prize by the President of the Cuban Institute of Music, musicologist Marta Bonet, and First Deputy Minister of Culture, María Elena Salgado.

Among the tributes, El Tosco was presented with a piece by renowned painter Eduardo Roca Salazar (Choco).

Deciding on whom to award the 2017 Prize to were Digna Guerra, Adalberto Álvarez, César Pedroso, Beatriz Márquez and Juan Piñera; who recognized José Luis Cortés’ extensive career, marked by his virtuosity, his dedication to teaching and his contribution to the universalization of Cuban music.

El Tosco was one of the precursors of Cuban timba during the 1990s and has championed a sound full of rhythmic complexities with his group, NG La Banda, that expanded the limits of Cuban music and highlighted the talent and imagination of a core of young artists who began to reinvigorate the popular dance music scene, influenced by the legacy of groups such as Irakere and Los Van Van.

On receiving the award, the outstanding musician called on the media to promote more diverse programming and greater attention to Cuban music, to allow the public to hear the orchestras and sounds that identify the island around the world.

(Granma)

Cuban lung cancer medicine receives Innovation Award

Cubadebate — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 01:17:28 +0000

The medication Vaxira to treat advanced large cell lung cancer, developed by Cuba’s Molecular Immunology Center, received the Prize for Creativity and Technological Innovation 2015, awarded by the Cuban Industrial Property Office (OCPI).

Registered in Cuba since 2012 after being approved by the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (Cecmed), the product shows positive results in prolonging and improving the quality of patients’ lives, and has low toxicity levels resulting in less of the unpleasant side effects associated with other necessary therapeutic procedures.

The safety of the product allows it to be administered over long periods of time through the primary healthcare system, and is also suitable for elderly people suffering from the disease.

Vaxira is patented in 17 countries, while clinical trials are currently underway to assess its possible use in treating varieties of breast and ovarian cancer

Leonardo Padura receives the Award for Literary Criticism 2011 in Cuba

Cubadebate — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:08:42 +0000

Cuban writer Leonardo Padura won one of the Literary Critics Awards 2011 in Cuba with his novel “The man who loved dogs,” which recounts the exile and murder of Trotsky.

The media reported today that the book had won the annual award Padura together with six other works in the genres of novels, short stories, essays and drama.

The Literary Critics’ Prize is awarded to the island’s most important titles by living authors published by national publishers and is convened by the Cuban Book Institute.

“The man who loved dogs,” was published in Spain in 2009 by Tusquets and the Cuban edition came out last February by “Ediciones Union”, the publisher of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba.

During a presentation at the International Book Fair of Havana in February, Padura said that the launch of his novel on the island broke “myths”, after some people felt that it would not be published in Cuba because of its theme.

(With information from EFE)