Pedro Luis Ferrer: “We need a lot of love so that art can prevail over failure in Cuba”

Cuban singer-songwriter Pedro Luis Ferrer with his daughter Lina. Photo: Pedro Luis Ferrer’s Facebook profile.

“It takes a lot of love for art to prevail over chaos in Cuba,” Cuban singer-songwriter Pedro Luis Ferrer said on Sunday.

in Posted on FacebookReferring to his upcoming concerts at the National Museum of Fine Arts, next week, Ferrer emphasized that he is called upon to “motivate” the island’s authorities on “the path of economic and spiritual freedom that the people and the nation need to thrive.”

Concerning the concerts, the famous musician indicated that they will be held in “a context in which ordinary people suffer great hardships and ups and downs. And where freedom of expression is an issue directed in a dramatic and shocking way.”

“For this reason, the purpose of the love I encourage is to stimulate the path of economic and spiritual freedom which the people and the nation need to prosper, within the competence of the island authorities; and this prison, he added, is no longer a pitiful resource for political discord which only serves to intensify discord.”

He concluded his message on his personal Facebook page created for his current residence in Havana, saying, “We need a lot of love for art to triumph in Cuba over flopping.”

After more than six years without performing on Cuban stages, Pedro Luis Ferrer will perform in the coming days on the stage of the National Museum of Fine Arts, in the capital of the island, with the support of the National Center for Popular Music.

Initially, one concert was scheduled, on Tuesday, August 22 at 7:00 pm, where he would present, as he himself explained, an “intimate program in the style of troubadour” in the company of his daughter Lena.

However, having learned that on Saturday almost no tickets were sold to the public for this performance and that the bulk of the seats were distributed by invitations, the artist himself confirmed that a second concert would take place on the same stage.

Pedro Luis Ferrer announces a second concert at Bellas Artes

More

Ferrer said he was “confused” to learn that sales were far less than invitations, and emphasized that the initiative to appear in Havana was “definitely” his.

In this regard, the Troubadour explained that, in light of this situation and the many criticisms of what happened, the National Center for Popular Music gave him a second concert on Wednesday, August 23, with the obligation not to distribute invitations, and to sell at the box office “absolutely all entries.

In addition, he noted that “if God and the institutions allow it, given the passion expressed by the public, before the end of the year I will return with my little band, and we will be able to experience it in a more comfortable space.”

One of the most important Cuban musicians of recent decades is Pedro Luis Ferrer, born in 1952 in Yaguajay, Sancti Spiritus Province. He is the nephew of the poet and educator Raoul Ferrer.

The author of songs such as “100% Cuban”, “I’m Not Like Him” and “IVF”, he is known for his critical stance towards the island’s government. He currently resides in Miami and will be 71 years old this September.

Last April, he celebrated his music continuing to be heard in Cuba, after the show was broadcast on national television 23 and min which he guest-starred in 2017, and in which he said he felt “at home”, “after so many years without representation on national television”.