Cecilia Valdés: A Story of Love, Tragedy, and Colonial Cuba

Hi. I wanted to tell you a little bit about Cecilia Valdés. I'm really excited to be singing the entrance of Cecilia at our upcoming Hispanic Heritage Month concert on September 15th, and I hope you can join us. Get tickets here... https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1625135627409

Cecilia Valdés is a 19th-century novel written by Cuban author Cirilo Villaverde. He began it while living in Cuba but had to finish it while in exile in New York during the Revolutionary War. It was later adapted into a Zarzuela by Rodrigo Roish. A Zarzuela is a Latin American operetta where song, music, and spoken word help to move the plot along.

And speaking of plots, Cecilia has a very juicy one. She is a beautiful, mixed-race woman who falls in love with a wealthy white man. The plot twist? He turns out to be her half-brother.

Despite the tragic love story at the center of this drama, it's considered a powerful social criticism of 19th-century colonial Cuba, where class, racial divides, and slavery were the brutal reality for many people.

I think this is an iconic novel and a very iconic work in the musical literature of Cuba. I am so excited to be performing it for everyone in a couple of weeks. If she were alive today, I think Cecilia would really relate to Karol G's "Tropic Coquita," because she was not only beautiful and gifted in song, dance, and making friends, but she also knew it.

I hope that you'll be able to join us and that you will enjoy this character as much as I do. Get tickets here... https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1625135627409