CONTRATEMPS PRODUCTIONS
CUBAN SPIRITUAL MUSIC
“More than a concert, Orishas is a narration of how Europe and America engaged in dialogue for centuries through dance and rhythm, intertwining African heritage, Spanish tradition, and European Baroque into a common language.” El Pirineo Aragonés
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Afro-Cuban spiritual music is a sonic journey and a bridge between worlds. Within it converge African drums, Indigenous voices, and European melodies, weaving a living memory that unites the sacred and the human.
This program invites us to discover the chants to the orishas —such as the powerful Canto a Elegguá, guardian of the pathways— and to rediscover works by composers who brought Cuban spirituality into dialogue with Spanish Renaissance music.
With vibrant dances like the zarambeque and the chacona, which crossed oceans to transform European music, this experience celebrates the power of cultural mestizaje. More than a concert, it is an offering of rhythms and voices that continue to beat in Cuba and that today resound as an echo of spirituality, memory, and shared beauty.
ARTISTIC TEAM
Lixsania Fernaández
Musical direction, Voice, Viola da Gamba
Teresa Yanet
Voice
Jorge Morata
Voice, Marimba, Organetto
Katy Elkin
Shawms, recorders, dulcimer
Marlon Rodríguez
Percussion
Frank Pereira
Cuban Tres
“Music of the highest quality, carried across oceans to intertwine with Cuba’s own culture. Each piece unfolds as a living story of exchange —not only musical, but profoundly social and deeply human.”
LIVE AUDIO
LIVE excerpts from ORISHAS in concert
Festival Camino de Santiago, Siresa, Spain, 2025
«Lixsania Fernández’s viola da gamba is a delight…» (Diario de Noticias de Navarra, 2008)
One of the most promising performers of her generation, Lixsania was born in Cuba. She received an «honours degree» from the «Manuel Castillo Higher Music Conservatory» in Seville, specialising in Viola da Gamba, under the tutelage of Ventura Rico and Alejandro Casal.
Founder of the «Recondita Armonia» Ensemble, she also participates in numerous concerts offered at festivals in countries around the world, under the direction of such prestigious names as Shalev Ad-El, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Rio Terakado, Paul Dyer, Walter Reiter, Raül Refree and Claudio Abbado.
She collaborates with ensembles such as La Chimera (Eduardo Egüez), L´Arpeggiata (Christina Pluhar), Le Concert des Nations (Jordi Savall), Capella Mediterranea (Leonardo Garcia Alarcón), Ars Longa (Teresa Paz), Orpheon Consort (José Vázquez), Il Galdellino, Ensemble Elyma (Gabriel Garrido), or Le Tendre Amour.
She has also been invited as a soloist in orchestras such as the National Orchestra of Spain, the Valencia Symphony Orchestra, the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Barroca Sevilla, the Orquesta Barroca Catalana, the Orchestre de Chambre de Toulouse, and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. The Recondita Armonia ensemble collaborates with the CNDM in the recovery and diffusion of the Spanish repertoire.
She has recorded two albums for the prestigious Dutch label Brilliant Classics, together with the ensemble Recondita Armonia, one dedicated to the virtuoso viola player and composer Johannes Schenck, and another to the German composer G.F. Handel, which have received wonderful reviews from the most prestigious specialist magazines.
She has made numerous recordings for different radio and television stations around the world and for the record labels Erato, Alia Vox, Naive, Brilliant Classics, NB, CDM, La mà de Guido, Verso, and K617. She is currently a teacher at the “Isaac Albéniz” Conservatory in Girona and at the “Esteban Mazer” courses on historical music.
PRODUCTION
Production direction
Jorge Juan Morata
Video/photos
Katy Elkin
Musical arrangements
Jorge Morata & Frank Pereira
Special Thanks
Escola de Música Tradicional Sant Cugat
Production
Col·lectiu Música Antiga de Sant Cugat
“A sonic journey that spanned centuries and oceans, blending the elegance of early European music with the vitality of traditional Cuban rhythms, and inviting the audience not only to listen but also to move in their seats.”
with the support of:
