Orfeón Santiago, a choral group founded in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba in November 1960 as an amateur choir by maestro Electo Silva, who has served as its director ever since.

Just a few months after their emergence in the Cuban musical scene, they performed at the first amateur gathering held by the Cuban Revolution: the Workers’ and Peasants’ Theater Festival, where they won first prize. In 1962, they became a professional group.

The Orfeón Santiago’s repertoire is broad and varied, boasting musical arrangements dominated by a strong Cuban spirit. It includes works from the 15th century to the present day, with music of all styles and periods, both popular and religious, and from diverse origins such as Cuban, Latin American, Caribbean, European, and North American. Lyric texts by Cuban poets and troubadours can also be heard. Highlights include: Alfonsina y el mar (Alfonsina and the Sea), a choral version by Ariel Ramírez; Iré a Santiago (I Will to Santiago), verses by Federico García Lorca set to music by Roberto Valera; Gracias a la vida (Thanks to Life) by Violeta Parra; and El Bolero Juramento (The Bolero Juramento) by Miguel Matamoros.

He was nominated for the National Interpretation Award in 1998. In 1999 they made two tours to Mexico, in one they participated in the XXVII International Cervantino Festival, where they gave a pleasant concert at the La Valenciana temple and in the other they performed in Tijuana with great success.

In 2004, this choir from Santiago traveled to Martinique, where it gave its second performance in that nation, with a series of successful concerts. Its performances featured an engaging program, including Silva’s Misa caribeña (Caribbean Mass); the piece Iré a Santiago (I Will a Santiago); compositions dedicated to Chilean Violeta Parra; and works by Leo Brower, Roberto Varela, and Pablo Milanés.

The Orfeón Santiago was awarded the 2010 Cubadisco Prize in the Choral Music category for its production, “Por los caminos de la poesía” (On the Paths of Poetry). It was also presented with the Cubadisco Honorary Award for preserving the choral tradition in Cuba for half a century.

Along the Paths of Poetry, the band’s seventh album, is composed of 21 classic tracks from Latin American and Cuban songs. Among them are: De qué callada manera (How Quietly), Gracias a la vida (Thanks to Life), Canto a los cafetales (Song to the Coffee Plantations), Me gustas cuando callas (You Like It When You’re Silent), and Mi Isla (My Island).

In 2010, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding, the Orfeón Santiago performed several times and exchanged with other choral groups in venues throughout the province of Santiago de Cuba. On this anniversary, it was awarded the Flag of the Heroic City of Santiago de Cuba due to its significant history in Cuban culture.

The group is currently led by assistant Daria Abreu, who has been doing this work for three years.

Poets and composers have dedicated works to the Orfeón Santiago, including: Rafaela Chacón Nardi, Roberto Fernández Retamar, Manuel Díaz Martínez, Ariel James and Nicolás Guillén, Roberto Valera and Leo Brouwer.

Maestro Silva’s Santiago choir has performed more than two thousand times in various venues: schools at all levels, concert halls, public places, plazas, workplaces, cultural institutions, and theaters around the world. They have toured internationally to Latin American and Caribbean nations (Grenada, Martinique, Barbados, and Curaçao); former socialist countries (Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland); and France and Spain, among others.

They were invited to perform as guest artists at the opening of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana (Trocadero Street between Zulueta and Monserrate, Old Havana, Havana City).

The work of the Orfeón Santiago, since its beginnings has been praised on many occasions by specialized critics, placing it as one of the most prestigious choral groups, among these criteria we can mention: (Federico Smith, Hoy Newspaper, July 1965), For its magnificent intonation, the balance between its voices, its exact control of nuances, the cleanliness of its attacks and its versatility in singing various styles of the Orfeón Santiago is a first-class professional group.

The Santiago Orfeón has transformed its hometown into the capital of choral singing in the country by founding the Santiago de Cuba National Choir Festival, which currently has an international reach and is also the main event of its kind. This event, held every two years in the city, brings together leading Cuban and foreign singers and choral groups. This is one of this group’s most significant contributions to Cuban music.

EGREM published a book of 30 Cuban popular songs, which are part of her repertoire, many of which have been published abroad. The album includes a total of seven phonograms, consisting of four long-playing records, three of which showcase Cuban choral songs in all their splendor, and one that explores Caribbean songs.

It is one of the most expressive and significant choral groups in Cuban music and culture in general, due to its influence on the choral movement in Cuba. It has also safeguarded and preserved the roots of Cuban music, which is why it is considered a strength of Cuban national identity.

The Orfeón Santiago has received numerous recognitions and awards, including: the Choral Music Award for its first CD, La isla de la música, Orfeón Santiago, vol. 5; and the Cubadisco Award (1999).