Beatriz Márquez & Guido López Gavilán receive National Prize for Music

Singer and composer Beatriz Márquez and composer and orchestra conductor Guido López Gavilán were awarded the National Prize for Music 2015 given their important contributions to the island’s musical identity.
The judges, presided by Digna Guerra, director of the Cuban National Choir, including Sergio Vitier, César Pupy Pedroso, Juan Pi­ñera and Adalberto Álvarez, highlighted the prize winners’ solid work and important contributions to Cuban music.
Born on January 3, 1944, in the province of Matanzas, López Gavilán is one of the island’s most famous composers and orchestra conductors.
Notable achievements throughout his career include leading the orchestra Música Eterna, founded by the composer himself in 1995, and his work with the National Symphony Orchestra, invited on occasion as a guest conductor. He has made notable contributions in the field of chamber and symphony-choir music.
Beatriz Márquez, considered to be one of Cuba’s best singers, has seen huge success across the genres of bolero and “el feeling” and also enjoys a large fan base on the island. She has recorded over 40 albums and has collaborated with various greats of Cuban music, such as maestro Juan Formell, over her more than 50 year career.
Known as “La Musicalísima”, Beatriz is renowned for her interpretation of emblematic Cuban songs, and has also composed her own works which have met with great public acclaim, including “Nuestro amor”and “Despídete de todo mi existir.”