Jenny Sotolongo, a Cuban singer, is considered a child prodigy of Cuban music. Considered one of the leading young voices in contemporary Cuban songwriting, she began to show a passion for singing at the age of seven. Her family roots are deeply connected to music, as her father, Raúl Sotolongo, was the vocalist for the group Los Selectivos, and her grandmother is a country music singer on Radio Surco and Televisión in Ciego de Ávila, the young woman’s province of birth.

She made her artistic debut in 1997 with the song “Canto a la naturaleza” by composer Mirtha Selis at the Cantándole al Sol Festival that same year. She also won first prize at the municipal festival and also at the provincial festival in Ciego de Ávila.

In 1998, Jenny Sotolongo won another award with another Mirtha Selis song, “El travieso pequinés.” At that time, she began performing at political and government events, as well as at popular events, performing songs such as Girón, La Victoria, and La Lupe, among others.

The following year, she moved to the Cuban capital and, in a nationwide talent selection, was chosen to represent Cuba at the Bravo, Bravísimo!!! Festival, held in Cremona, the City of Violins, Italy. At this event, she performed “La Bamba” and “Damisela Encantadora,” winning third place and the Sympathy Award among child talents from twenty-one countries.

That same year, already in Cuba, Jenny Sotolongo participated in an Open Forum as part of the public demonstrations by the Cuban people for the return of the child Elián González. There, she performed the songs “Let the Children Sing” and “La Maza.” After that, she continued performing at these rallies and had the opportunity to meet the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Cruz.

As a teenager, she continued studying and singing. Her artistic career included other international performances in Brazil, Algeria, Argentina, and Venezuela, where she met and shared experiences with President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías.

Jenny Sotolongo graduated from elementary school and then went on to study at the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory of Music (Rastro No. 1 and Espada, Centro Habana, Havana). She also completed her high school diploma in theory.

Despite her youth, the singer from Ciego de Ávila is frequently in demand at elegant venues in the Cuban capital, such as the Meliá Habana (3rd and 78th Avenues, Miramar, Havana) and the Shateau Miramar (1st and 62nd Avenues, Playa, Havana). She has also participated in the People’s Summit and two Youth and Student Festivals.

She has a charming voice, rated as a soprano, although her vocal range cannot be clearly defined until she is eighteen years old.

Jenny Sotolongo has also had the opportunity to work with greats of Cuban music; an example of this is her duet performance with Niurka Reyes of the song “Amigos para Siempre.” With music by Vicente Feliú and the late Polo Montañez, she has interpreted poems by Antonio Guerrero, one of the five Cuban prisoners in U.S. prisons. She has also performed duets with Coco Freeman and Leo Vera, performing “Tú eres la Música” and “Vivo por Ella.”

She is still in the midst of her artistic development, and many successes await this young woman; even more so after her success in the show “Soy de Cuba,” with which she has performed and delighted audiences in France and Edinburgh. She was chosen for this role by maestro Rembert Egües to perform a variety of genres. The show was a huge success at the Edinburgh Festival, and there the singer also performed with an excellent South African vocal quartet and an American ballet company.