The Castlemaine music community is coming together to hold a fundraising concert to support their friends and fellow musicians in Cuba – El Son Entero.
Local band Son Quba and salsa dancer Camila Serrano are coordinating the special event at the Theatre Royal Castlemaine on Saturday March 26.
Son Quba band member, Stephen Breheny, said many would remember the memorable performance by El Son Entero that opened the 2015 Castlemaine State Festival.
Due to COVID outbreaks and government restrictions in Cuba, the group has been unable to work for the past 18 months.
Local musos inspired by the Cuban music group wanted to lend them a hand.
“The March 26 concert will see us join together to help our fellow performers, El Son Entero, who inspired us to continue playing Cuban music,” Breheny said.
“We aim to use the opportunity that we have here in Australia to perform live music and dance. The evening will then be headlined by the band themselves with a livestream from Cuba on the Theatre Royal cinema screen!”
Son Quba will also perform a song written by the lead singer Jorge Luaces, who died from cancer shortly after returning home to Cuba after their Australian Tour.
El Son Entero were also instrumental in presenting Cuban music to Castlemaine Secondary College.
The musical director at the school at the time, Kirsten Boerema, and the band’s leader, Michel, were the driving force behind the Gala Performance during the 2015 State Festival highlighting the talent of CSC’s Music Faculty student orchestra.
“We thank festival director at that time, Martin Paten, for his insight and encouragement in having the band teach the songs to the students and guide them through the performance,” Breheny said.
After the band left, some of the students wanted to continue playing Cuban music.
Breheny, who has been travelling to Cuba for many years, taking musical instruments to donate to the Schools of Music along with several other members of the Cuba Cultural Alliance, agreed to continue teaching all that he knew of Cuban music to many of the existing members of ‘Son Quba’ here in Castlemaine.
Today, all of the musicians in Son Quba are highly proficient musicians in their own right, playing in several bands throughout Victoria.
In fact, four of the band members are studying at the Victorian College of the Arts.
Aryo Hall is now teaching music at Maryborough High School. He also is director of the band The Seducephones. Twins Eli and Emmanuel Hall are both members of Son Quba and the Seducaphones.
Haley Goddefroy is currently playing in both Son Quba and the KGB (Klesma, Gypsy, Balkan) band.
All profits from the evening will go directly to the El Son Entero and family in Cuba.
The gig gets under way at 7pm and tickets are $20 (+booking fee).
Get your tickets for the fundraiser at www.eventbrite.com.au
If you can’t make it along on the evening and would like to donate, you can contact the organisers at sonquba@gmail.com
