PROJECTS
ENSEMBLE
HABANA XXI
Created in 2019 by French conductor Nathalie Marin and Cuban conductor César Ramos, the ensemble focuses on repertoire from the 20th and 21st centuries. Its mission is to make contemporary music more accessible to new audiences while diversifying its presentation through small-scale operas, music-related art shows, and multidisciplinary performances, all connected in various ways to modern art.
AmorBrujoAMOR
Co-production of Ensemble Habana XXI and Teatro El Público, awarded the Villanueva Critics’ Award 2022. This new version of El Amor Brujo (1915) by Manuel de Falla features the lead role, traditionally sung by a female voice, interpreted for the first time by countertenor and actor Frank Ledesma. This reinterpretation transforms the original story into a homoerotic romance between El Candelas and the Gypsy.
Libretto: Norge Espinosa (based on the original by María Lejárraga)
Stage Director: Carlos Díaz
Costume and stage design: Robertiko Ramos
Musical Direction and General Production: César Ramos
Pierrot Lunaire Op.21 by
Arnold Schönberg
The main reason for a new interpretation of Schönberg iconic work was to combine it with multimedia materials created by the young Cuban filmmaker Chris Erland. The visual elements, inspired by the poems of Albert Giraud, would be projected simultaneously as the ensemble performs the piece live, merging the auditory experience with the visual and transforming the project into an immersive experience for the audience. With the special participation of soprano Cristina Rodriguez and under the musical direction of conductor César Ramos, this project premiered in May 2022 at Fábrica de Arte Cubano.
The Soldier’s Tale by Igor Stravinsky
CUBAN LANDSCAPES
A series of performances curated by César Ramos with the aim of introducing classical and contemporary Cuban music to European audiences. The project premiered during the Collaborative Student Festival 2024 at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in the Netherlands, with a performance titled Cuban Landscapes: The Music of Leo Brouwer. During this concert, a guitar orchestra, a solo recorder, and a contemporary ensemble presented the music of the Cuban composer, accompanied by video projections and an immersive light design.
GALLERY
