Isolina Carrillo Estrada, Cuban composer and singer, was born on December 9, 1907, in Havana. She came from a family connected with music; her brothers also played musical instruments, and her father, Crispín Carrillo, played the tres, the lute, the guitar, and percussion. He was Isolina’s first mentor and introduced her to the art world.
When Isolina was ten years old, she made her public debut as a pianist with her father’s orchestra, having to replace him when he was ill. She received her musical training at the Municipal Conservatory of Havana. She received lessons from Cuban musical figures such as Graciano Gómez, Juan Elósegui, Piedad de Armas, and Joaquín Nin. In addition to the piano, she played other string instruments (guitar, lute, and tres); brass instruments such as the trumpet, which she studied with Lázaro Herrera; and the bongo and organ, the latter with Rafael Palau at the Havana Cathedral (Calle Empedrado 156, Old Havana, Havana).
In 1917, he began his artistic career, working as a substitute pianist for the Calixto Allende Orchestra, which performed at the Strand silent film theater, and later at the Hisperia and Favorito theaters.
Later, she formed the all-female septet Las Trovadoras del Cayo, where she served as director and played trumpet. With the Conjunto Vocal Siboney, she performed in various countries throughout the Americas, including Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela, where she also served as director. As a pianist, Isolina formed a trio with Vicente González Rubiera (guitar) and Marcelino Guerra (vocalist). She was also a member of Conjunto Tropicuba and Trio Sepia.
In 1938, he began working at CMQ radio, and later at RHC Cadena Azul, where he remained until 1952. At the latter, he organized a giant danzone orchestra, serving as a repertoire pianist and accompanist. He also worked on other radio stations, such as La Voz de Oro and Cuban Telephone Co.
He performed a variety of musical genres, including lyrical songs, cha-cha-chá, bolero, tango, and guaracha, as well as works by artists such as Ernesto Lecuona, and occasionally performed in English.
It was in the 1940s that Carrillo gained the greatest recognition as a composer of boleros, guarachas, and sones. It was during this period that she created her immortal and truly Cuban bolero, Dos Gardenias. It is one of the all-time Latin classics.
Opera singer Guillermo Arronte premiered this piece on RHC Cadena Azul radio station after it was registered with the Cuban Authors Society in April 1948. Years later, Puerto Rican Daniel Santos popularized it internationally, with an orchestration by Dámaso Pérez Prado.
This work has been recorded countless times and has been part of the repertoire of a wide variety of performers, including Mexican artists such as Pedro Vargas and Toña, la negra; and versions by Cubans Antonio Machín, Fernando Álvarez, Elena Bourke, Omara Portuondo, and Ibrahim Ferrer. Fernando Álvarez’s work has become an unmistakable signature.
Many of his compositions became part of Latin American music, such as Fiesta de Besos, Canción sin amor, Increíble, and possibly the most famous of all his works, Dos gardenias.
Isolina Carrillo left her mark on the seventh art. She worked in various movie theaters across the Cuban archipelago, giving voice to the silent period. Later, in Mexico, she participated in three film productions. She recorded numerous videos for Cuban television, in which she gave the piano the prominence it deserves in the audiovisual medium. She taught young musical authors and singers who came to her home.
In 1952, in Mexico, he was awarded the Ariel Prize for his song “Dos Gardenias” remaining the most popular song with the public for two consecutive years.
Among his works we can find: Tropical watercolor, Song without love, Dream castle, Like never before, When you are missing, When you least expect it, Two gardenias, Kissing party, Incredible, Irony, Far from you, My lament, My paradise, I don’t believe in you, Afraid of you, Part of my life, How badly you behave, Rumor of life, I know you know, Thirst for you, Kissing shadow, I am your destiny, I warned you, I will live to love you.
Isolina Carrillo, died on February 21, 1996, in Havana.