Xiomara Alfaro Explained

Xiomara Alfaro
Birth Date:May 11, 1930
Birth Place:Havana, Cuba
Death Date:June 24, 2018
Death Place:Coral Gables, Florida
Occupation:Singer

Xiomara Alfaro (May 11, 1930 – June 24, 2018[1]) was a Cuban coloratura soprano.[2] Her interpretation of Cuban composer and pianist Ernesto Lecuona's "Siboney" was the composer's favorite.

Early life

Alfaro was born in Havana. She was a musical child, and won a contest for young singers sponsored by Radio Suaritos; she regularly appeared on Radio Suaritos broadcasts, which led to further opportunities. Her sister Olympia Alfaro was also known a singer.[3]

Career

Alfaro was a star of the Cuban music scene of the 1950s.[4] She was in the original cast of Batamú (1951), a musical revue by Obdulio Morales. She became famous as a singer of bolero music, with a clear, strong soprano voice well suited to the genre.[5] She was known as "El Ruiseñor de la Cancion" (The Nightingale of Music) and as "La Alondra de la Cancion" (The Lark of Music).[6]

Alfaro's film appearances included a vocal performance alongside the Katherine Dunham dancers in Mambo (1954),[7] [8] and a role in Olé…Cuba! (1957), which also featured fellow Afro-Cuban singer Celia Cruz.[9] She made more than two dozen recordings for RCA Records and other labels.[10]

"I'm a very spiritual person," she explained in a 2007 interview. "I try to transmit to my audience when I sing. God gave me a gift. And when God gives you something, you use it."

Recordings

Personal life

Alfaro was married to Panamanian pianist Rafael Benitez. She fled Cuba in 1960. She died in 2018, in Cape Coral, Florida, at the age of 88.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fallece en Florida reconocida cantante cubana . elnuevoherald . 26 June 2018 . en.
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ4PIvJUKe0 YouTube – "Lo que me dijo Xiomara"
  3. Book: Villepastour, Amanda . The Yoruba God of Drumming: Transatlantic Perspectives on the Wood That Talks . 2016-01-19 . Univ. Press of Mississippi . 978-1-4968-0352-8 . 226 . en.
  4. Web site: A Concert of Cuba. St. Petersburg Times, May 31, 2007. 30 May 2011.
  5. http://elblogdelbolero.wordpress.com/2008/01/09/xiomara-alfaro-el-ruisenor-de-la-cancion/ “Xiomara Alfaro: El Ruiseñor De La Cancion” « [El Blog Del Bolero&#93;<!-- Bot generated title -->]
  6. News: Perez . Juan Carlos . 1994-03-13 . El Ruíseñor Trina de Nuevo . 53, 60 . El Nuevo Herald . 2023-01-11 . Newspapers.com.
  7. Book: Durkin, Hannah . Josephine Baker and Katherine Dunham: Dances in Literature and Cinema . 2019-08-16 . University of Illinois Press . 978-0-252-05146-3 . en.
  8. Book: Olupona . Jacob Kẹhinde . Òrìşà Devotion as World Religion: The Globalization of Yorùbá Religious Culture . Rey . Terry . 2008 . Univ of Wisconsin Press . 978-0-299-22464-6 . 333 . en.
  9. Book: Heredia, Juanita . Transnational Latina Narratives in the Twenty-first Century: The Politics of Gender, Race, and Migrations . 2009-08-03 . Springer . 978-0-230-62325-5 . 75 . en.
  10. News: Cabrera . Cloe . 2007-05-31 . 'X' Marks the Spot . 49, 51 . The Tampa Tribune . 2023-01-11 . Newspapers.com.
  11. Cantor-Navas . Judy . 2018-06-26 . Cuban Singer Xiomara Alfaro Dies at 88 . 2023-01-11 . Billboard . en-US.

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