The Adolfo Guzmán Cuban Music Competition held its first edition in the summer of 1978. This Cuban Music Competition is the most important for Cuban composers, sponsored by the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television, and has a national reach.

Cuban Radio and Television planned this competition to facilitate the presentation of their works by young talents. It was a way to pay tribute to Maestro Adolfo Guzmán, a prominent Cuban musician who died on July 30, 1976. Through this competition, this star has been kept alive in memory as an example of what “an artist of his people” should be.

Some say it was maestro Alberto Vera who suggested the name of the event. It was first held from June 28 to July 2, 1978, and opened the doors to recording studios for composers and performers. “Canción eterna de la juventud” (Eternal Song of Youth), by the author of Marta Valdés, was performed by Viviana García with orchestration by maestro Rey Montesinos. It was the song that won the Grand Prize in this first edition, which had twenty-four finalists.

Ten subsequent editions followed. After a prolonged hiatus of more than ten years, the competition was held again in 2000, and was enthusiastically received by authors, performers, and spectators. Beatriz Márquez demonstrated her interpretive talent by recreating the beautiful song “Mariposa” by the prolific Pedro Antonio Romero, which deservedly won the Grand Prize of the competition on that occasion.

The song Decirte cosas de amor, by Roberto Novo (Cienfuegos) and performed by Diana Fuentes, received the Grand Prize at the 2007 Adolfo Guzmán Cuban Music Competition, while first and second places went to Detrás del tilo, by Leonardo García (Villa Clara), and Flor de luna, by Heidi Igualada, performed by Vionaika Martínez and Verónica Velázquez, respectively.

The Adolfo Guzmán Cuban Music Competition (the following ones were in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007) has delivered hundreds of works that have enriched the record libraries of all the country’s radio stations.