Jose Aquiles Viréles Rodríguez, a prominent Cuban troubadour, was born on November 8, 1957, in the province of Santiago de Cuba. He completed his primary education at the 26 de Julio School, where he joined several interest groups and participated in theater and music groups, earning various awards. He continued his training at the Camilo Cienfuegos Military School in El Caney; later, at the Espino Fernández Basic Secondary School, which he enrolled in 1972, he became involved in the world of music and taught himself guitar. The following year, he earned a scholarship to the Rubén Martínez Villena Technological Institute in Havana. There, he joined two amateur musical groups. He participated in FEEM festivals, where he performed his own songs and those of Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés.

Jose Aquiles joined the Nueva Trova Movement in 1974. The following year, he completed his studies in Mechanization and Automation of the Dairy Industry and left for Villa Clara to perform his Social Service. There, he joined a popular dance music group as a guitarist and also worked with the Nueva Trova Group of Santa Clara.

He moved to Holguín in 1976, where he performed alongside figures such as Ramiro Gutierrez, Fredy Labori, and Augusto Blanca. During this time, he performed in several concerts throughout the eastern Cuban provinces. In December, he participated in the International Festival of Political Song in Santiago de Cuba, where he shared roles with Silvio Rodríguez.

In 1978, Jose Aquiles Vireles participated in the 11th Youth and Student Festival with the Yaguajay Group as part of the Holguín Artistic Brigade. That same year, he made his first television appearance and won First Prize at the National Festival of Amateur Art Workers. The following year, he participated in several events, such as the Festival and Active of Nueva Trova held in Moa and the Guantánamo Political Song Festival. He served as Vice President of Nueva Trova in Holguín.

In Santiago de Cuba, he joined the Santiago Theater Council as a musician in 1980. In that province, he continued his work as a troubadour; he began composing music for theater; and became a professional artist. Jose Aquiles also founded the Grupo Identidad and participated in theater workshops. In 1981, with the Council, he traveled to Venezuela, where he participated in the Caracas International Theater Festival, marking his first international tour. He also performed in majestic theaters for the first time in Panama and Nicaragua. A year later, he attended the Cervantino Festival in Mexico and the first International Theater Workshop in Havana; he gave a concert at the UNEAC headquarters in Santiago de Cuba, alongside Pablo Milanés and his group. With the group, he performed at the Activo Festival de la Nueva Trova in Playa Larga.

In 1983, he composed the music for the documentary En Cayuca por el Toa (In Cayuca by the Toa), directed by Rolando González. He performed with his group at the Cultural Nights on Heredia Street, where he performed alongside Venezuelan singer Lilia Vera. He composed the music for Onelio Jorge Cardoso’s play Caballo de Coral (Coral Horse). This work won him an award at the Mascara de Caoba Festival. In 1984, he began studying guitar at the Rafael Salcedo School of Professional Development in Santiago de Cuba. That same year, he founded the Proposición 4 Quartet, a vocal group comprised of Eva Grifian, Jose Limia, and Miguel Guilarte. He participated in the Nueva Trova Festival on the Isle of Youth. He also recorded his musical talent alongside the most representative figures of Nueva Trova in Santiago in the anthology produced by EGREM (Educational Association of Musicians of Santiago de Cuba), Ponle mira a la canción (Look at the Song). He won an award for the music for the children’s play “Los amigos de Candelita” (Candelita’s Friends) by the “Caracol” Theater Group. It was around this time that his group, Identidad, disbanded.

In the Adolfo Guzmán Cuban Music Competition (1985), Jose Aquiles Vireles was a finalist with the piece “Ayúdame a encontrar el mundo” (Help Me Find the World), performed by the Matanzas trio Nueva Era. He revived this feat the following year with the song “Balada a Hemingway” (Ballad to Hemingway), performed by Cuarteto Proposición 4, a group he decided to leave in 1987. He won an award for children’s theater music with the play “La Maga de las Zanahorias” (The Carrot Magician) at the Teatro Caracol; and he recorded the anthology “La Nueva Canción” (The New Song) in Santiago.

He completed his secondary school studies as a guitarist in 1988. He joined the Muralla Group, with which he toured Leningrad, in the former Soviet Union. He became a member of the Hermanos Saiz Association and its president in Santiago de Cuba. In France, a nation he visited in 1989 as a guest of the University of Bordeaux, he played with Muralla on various stages. Toward the end of the year, he began to develop his solo career.

In the 1990s, he created La Peña de los Escorpiones, a project that continued until 2001 and was revived in 2006. He won first prize in the Chepin Choven Competition with the song “Jose Miguel, el negro del Tivoli” and a prize in the “Mascara de Caoba” competition. In 1992, he was hired by the Brugal Company of the Dominican Republic. He performed in the opening concert of the 18th Santo Domingo Biennial of Visual Arts. He continues to win awards for his theater music, an example of which is the music for the play “Arroz con Pescao, con la espinita cuidao,” which won an award at the Mascara de Caoba Festival. He also toured northern Italy successfully.

In Santiago de los Caballeros, he gave several concerts and was named an Illustrious Guest of that city. He works as a teacher, leading a popular guitar workshop. Along with Jose Antonio Rodríguez, Manuel Jiménez, and Carlos Luis Pérez, he performed at the Casa de Teatro in Santo Domingo. He also gave concerts in the Argentine cities of Buenos Aires and Córdoba, as a guest of Proyecto Sur. He traveled to this country on several occasions to present his music. He recorded the Romantic Anthology of Cuba for the American company Toyamak Pacific.

Jose Aquiles Vireles received the Second Prize and Critics’ Prize at the Adolfo Guzmán Cuban Music Competition (2000) for his song “Sera.” Two years later, he won the Grand Prize at the same Cuban music competition with “Mira,” a work championed by Leo Vera. Also in 2002, he toured Canada, where he performed at festivals in Winnipeg, Vancouver, and Toronto.

In 2010, during the celebrations for his thirtieth anniversary, José Aquiles Virelles received a musical tribute at the Teatro Martí in Santiago de Cuba.

His music is included in the repertoires of artists such as Soma Silvestre and Sergio Vargas. He has shared the stage with renowned Canadian saxophonist Jane Bunnet and pianist David Virelles, among others. He has performed in venues in nations such as the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Canada, Venezuela, Panama, France, Italy, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Spain, among others.

He has performed at Political Song Festivals in several Cuban cities, including the Pepe Sánchez Trova Festival and the Sierra Maestra Newspaper Festival, to name a few. He has served as a judge at events such as the Cantándole al Sol Children’s Song Festival, the Casa del Caribe Competition, the 1st Santiago de Cuba Creator’s Festival, and the Amateur Artists Music Festival of the National Association of the Blind (ANCI). He has also worked as an independent producer.

His composition credits include the music for the documentaries directed and produced by Rolando González, El MIMINT, an impregnable bastion of the revolution, and En Cayuca por el Toa. He also composed the music for Onelio Jorge Cardoso’s play Caballo de Coral, and the music for the folkloric ballet Ercili, directed by the prestigious maestro Jorge Lefebre, alongside the Ballet Royal Wallonie of Belgium and the Cutumba and Oriente Folkloric Ballets.

His album, A conquistar otro camino, is an anthology of some of his best works, comprising more than fourteen tracks. It won him the 2011 Cubadisco Award in the Trova category.

Jose Aquiles Viréles Rodríguez is one of the most prolific composers from Santiago de Cuba of the last two decades. Among his accolades is the Jose María Heredia Plaque.

Album: Look at the Song, Anthology, (1983); Nueva Trova Anthology, Volume 3 (1985); The New Song in Santiago, Anthology, (1986); Live Quietly, (1992); For Your Smile (1996); Loves That Went Away, (1998); Romantic of Cuba, Anthology; Anthology Vol. 1 (2002); Anthology Vol. 2 (2005).