Yalil Guerra


Yalil Guerra is a Cuban composer and guitarist.

Studies

The son of the famous Cuban vocal duo Rosell y Cary, his first musical studies were conducted at the National School of Music in Havana, Cuba with classical guitar professor and concert master Jorge Luis Zamora. He graduated as a classical guitar performer and Professor in 1991.
Guerra studied two years at the "Instituto Superior de Arte" and also studied classical guitar with Jesús Ortega, Joaquin Clerch and Efraín Amador Piñero. Afeter some time he moved to Spain and obtained a master's degree in Classical Guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Music "Queen Sofía" in Madrid, Spain, with professor and concert master Gabriel Estarellas. He also graduated from Counterpoint and fuge with professors Daniel Vega and Mercedes Padilla Valencia. Guerra received composition classes from composer and professor Aurelio de la Vega, Emeritus professor of the California State University, Northridge, California.

Biography

At the age of 16, Guerra won the International Competition & Festival of Classical Guitar in Krakow, Poland, as well as the Special Prize, thus becoming the youngest Cuban ever awarded a prize in an international competition. The following year he made a through different Polish cities. He started his career as a producer, composer and arranger in 1990, and has worked since then with many industry companies and professionals.
Nowadays he writes music for US TV networks such as Univision, Telefutura and Canal 41 Miami; the music of shows such as: FIFA World Cup music theme 2010, Viva el Sueño, the Latin Grammy Awards , Premio lo Nuestro, Up front, Escándalo TV, Tributo a nuestra música, Premios Juventud, etc. are among his credits. He is producing and composing albums in his recording facility for artist such us Yamila Guerra and Rosell y Cary, in Burbank in California.
On November 15, 2012 Guerra won the Latin Grammy in the Best Classical Contemporary Composition for his work "Seducción" RYCY Productions , , , , , , performed by pianist Elizabeth Rebozo, included in the album "Live in L.A., produced by Guerra for RYCY Productions, Inc. Another track from the same album was also nominee in the same category: the "Preludio Nº.1 by Aurelio de la Vega .
In 2010, Guerra was nominated by the Latin Recording Academy in the Best Classical Album category, with his first album "Old Havana" Chamber Music Vol. I. Latin Grammy Awards of 2010#Classical Field
Also this year, Guerra was awarded Runner-up by the Brandon Fradd Fellowship in music composition sponsored by the Cintas Foundation and the Frost Art Museum of Florida International University 2010. Four awarded compositions have been included on his new album entitled "Old Havana" available at cdbaby.com. For more information visit the News section.
In June 2011, his second album Old Havana Chamber Music Vol. II was released with music for chamber ensembles and soloists. This recording includes the following titles: Ab Imo Pectore, for Piano trio, performed by the B3:Brouwer Trio; Sofía, for classical guitar, performed by Yalil Guerra; "La Rumba" for Clarinet and String Quartet, performed by Ralph Williams, Pavel Farkas, Coleen Coomber, Nancy Roth, Giovanna Moraga and conducted by Francisco Castillo; "Aché", for flute and cello, performed by Lisette Pérez Esquenazi and Alejandro Rodríguez ; Suite "El Batey" and "Seducción" for piano, performed by Elizabeth Rebozo; "In Bellum Primum", performed by Salpy Kerkonian and Bryan Pezzone and "Guajira Blues", performed by Francisco Castillo, Pavel Farkas, Nancy Roth and Kevan Toerf.
From August to December, Guerra worked in this Univision projects as producer, orchestrator, arranger and sound engineer: The XII "Latin Grammy Awards" music theme; "Mira Quien Baila" ; Despierta América promos and National Noticiero Univisión.
He also worked as a vocal sound engineer for pop star Cristian Castro in his album "Que Viva el Principe, Vol. 2", also touring with the artist as a vocal sound producer and guitarist, 2011 tour. Guerra has worked with other international artist such us Celia Cruz, Rey Ruiz, Albita Rodriguez, Choco Orta, Issacc Delgado, Manolin "El Medico de la Salsa", Los Adolescentes, Yamila Guerra and many more.

Work

Guerra has composed for chamber and choral ensembles, as well as for solo instruments. His classical works has been premiered in the United States, Canada, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and Puerto Rico. A partial list of his works include: