David Blanco Ponsoda, Cuban singer, composer, trumpeter, keyboardist, musical director, arranger, and music producer, was born on February 10, 1980, in Havana. He graduated from the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory of Music (Calle Rastro No. 1, Habana Vieja, Havana) in 1998, as a trumpet instrumentalist and ensemble teacher. He also studied singing, harmony, composition, and orchestration. He studied piano for nine years, dedicated three years to the violin, and learned the basics of the guitar. He also took various dance and acting courses.

In 1993, he joined the Children’s Symphony Orchestra, composed of students from all of Havana’s music schools. He played trumpet in the orchestra, performing on various stages in Havana. A year later, he performed for the first time on piano at the Napoleonic Museum in Havana. In 1995, David Blanco joined the rock band A-19 as a keyboardist and singer. With this group, he recorded his first album, “Saliendo a flote 2,” under the EGREM label.

By 1996, he was 16, old enough to join the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory’s Youth Symphony Orchestra (Calle Rastro No. 1, Habana Vieja, Havana). A year later, he joined singer-songwriter Gerardo Alfonso’s band as a pianist, arranger, and keyboardist. He performed with them across the country and appeared on major television programs. Among other performances, he shared the stage with the Mexican bands Café Tacuba and Botellita de Jerez in concerts in Havana in 1997.

That same year, the teleplay “Mirando desde el Corazón” premiered in Cuba, where he worked as an actor.

At 18, he formed a jazz group to participate in the important Jazz Plaza Festival. This enabled him to perform and share the stage with leading Cuban and international jazz musicians, such as Chucho Valdés and Bobby Carcassés, among others. That same year, and until 2001, he worked as a trumpet player, keyboardist, arranger, composer, and backing vocalist in the group Moncada.

In 1999, David Blanco participated in the recording of the album “Invisible Bridges” by the Cuban rock group Cosa Nostra. That same year, his song “Ahora que no estás” won Second Prize at the OTI Song Festival in Cuba. The following year, he was also invited by the rock band Kamara Gamma to record their album “Pretentions,” where he served as arranger, keyboardist, pianist, trumpeter, and backing vocalist.

From these experiences, he began to perform important work as a producer and arranger of pop and salsa music for recordings by important Cuban musicians.

David Blanco founded his own band in April 2001, called “David Blanco y su grupo.” With this band, he has performed on the most important Cuban television programs and has toured numerous times, both nationally and internationally.

In 2003, he recorded his first CD with his own group, under the Bis Music label, titled “Tengo para dar.” This album earned him a nomination at the Cubadisco Festival in the Pop and New Artist categories. He also received nominations at the Lucas Awards for Most Popular Artist and New Artist of the Year.

Some time later, David Blanco released his second album, “El Despechao,” under the Spanish record label Latin Soul, for which he won the Best Album Award in the Pop-Fusion category at the 2005 Cubadisco Festival.

In 2005 he recorded a video clip with one of his songs “Lie to Me” which has been the song used in the campaign against AIDS in Cuba and he was chosen as the representative figure of said campaign.

In 2006, David Blanco wrote the song “Cuando Me Dijiste Adiós,” the video for which featured the singer joining Compay Segundo’s group, paying homage to traditional trova music from Santiago de Cuba. The song earned a Latin Grammy nomination.

On his third album, he shares composition and production with his brother Ernesto Blanco. In 2008, he released the CD “La Evolución” on the Bis Music label. This album won him the award for Best Rock Album at the 2009 Cubadisco Festival. The CD includes the song “Voy a parar el Tiempo,” for which he received the award for Best Rock Music Video and Best Male Artist of the Year at that year’s Lucas Awards. He also produced Isis Flores’ album “Sola,” which was nominated for the 2008 Cubadisco Awards in several categories.

Due to his success in Spain, David Blanco is a member of the General Society of Authors of that country (SGAE).