Rodrigo Prats was born in Sagua la Grande in 1909 and died in Havana in 1980. He was a composer, violinist, pianist, and orchestra conductor. He embarked on a musical career at a very early age. His musical beginnings began under the tutelage of his father Jaime, a magnificent orchestra conductor, instrumentalist, and composer of the well-known bolero Ausencia, and of Professor Emilio Reinoso. He completed his elementary musical training at the Orbón Conservatory.

As a violinist, he made his first appearance at the age of 13, in the Cuban Jazz Band (the first orchestra of its kind created in Cuba), an orchestra conducted by his father. He later joined the Havana Symphony Orchestra founded by Maestro Gonzalo Roig. He undertook his first career as a conductor with Arquímedes Pous’ theater company. He is the founder and director of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Aire (Air Symphony Orchestra) and the Chamber Orchestra of the Círculo de Bellas Artes (Bellas Artes Circle), deputy director of the Havana Philharmonic Orchestra, musical director of the RHC Cadena Azul (Channel 4), competitive director of the Ministry of Education Symphony Orchestra, musical director of Channel 4 TV, founder and director of the “Jorge Anckermann” theater group at the Teatro Martí, and musical director of the Teatro Lírico de Havana.

In January 1960, he led the National Typical Orchestra, formed for the Danzón Festival by the genre’s leading exponents; in 1961, with his work Yo sí tumbo caña, performed by Las D’Aida, Prats won the prize in the First Revolutionary Song Contest, which was included on the first album released by the Cuban National Printing Office.

Among his musical creations is music for theater, although he began his musical production at the age of fifteen with the work “Una rosa de Francia,” considered a classic piece of the traditional Cuban songbook.

Composer of numerous zarzuelas, including The Pearl of the Caribbean, María Belén Chacón, Havana Returns, Amalia Batista, Guamá, and Solitude. His songs include That Night, Fear of Disappointment, I Hope for You, You Who Can’t Lie, I Think I Love You, You Are a Ray of Sunshine, and other catchphrases such as The Ice Cream Man, The Tamale Seller, and The Churro Seller.