Expectations are growing today as the day progresses, waiting for 7:00 PM local time on the steps of the University of Havana (UH) to listen to Silvio Rodríguez, the troubadour of so many Cubans.

For the occasion, several generations have gathered, from those who have followed the renowned artist since his first albums and concerts in the mid-1970s to the younger ones, who find in his lyrics references of love, heartbreak, problems to face, and the past and present of their country.

“Silvio’s songs have accompanied my life. They say I fell in love with El Mayor (one of his songs) when I was very little, and since then they have been there in good times and bad, in optimism and disappointment,” Cuban journalist and researcher Dixie Edith tells Prensa Latina.

For the also UH professor and mother of three young children, “Silvio doesn’t just sing: he convenes, awakens, embraces. Every verse of his has been part of my work, my classes, my dreams.”

Aylin Febles, Vice Minister of Communications of Cuba, is another who never misses a concert by the singer-songwriter. She says proudly that she attended over 90 percent of his presentations during the Gira por los Barrios (Neighbourhood Tour).

Regarding what will happen this Friday, the also university professor recalled in an exchange with Prensa Latina that the university steps were her door to the technological world.

“And Silvio has been the spiritual support of my life. Every song has been the soundtrack of my most important moments, of my children’s, my family’s, my generation’s. I take refuge in his songs for everything. I need Silvio and I need this concert,” she commented.

This 19 September, Carlos Alberto (Tim) Cremata, director of the children’s theatre group La Colmenita, will be celebrating his daughter María Carla’s 21st birthday and will spend it by her side, “singing along with the Poet of Utopia and Truth, in this loving gift he gives to his America… Get ready America…!” he said enthusiastically.

Young Amalia Pérez, recently graduated in International Relations, points out that Silvio’s music accompanied her throughout her childhood, and a concert of his is also a moment of connection with her family through his songs.

“Going to a Silvio concert is like meeting again, after a long time, with a great friend, with a paradigm,” she expressed.

Juan Antonio, a Cuban doctor, tells PL that he will enjoy the concert as he has each one in the neighbourhoods or at the Karl Marx Theatre. But he assures this is not just another one.

«Silvio embodies the beating of our hearts and has been an exceptional chronicler of the entire revolutionary process, with every right earned from having lived intensely and firsthand every event, every tear, every joy, every anguish, every uncertainty, and each of the few, but firm certainties that sustain us,» he emphasised.

Of the author of Ojala, La Maza, and Óleo de una mujer con sombrero, documentary maker Esther Barroso recalled: “When I was 17, I went to my first Silvio concert, the one in 1985 on the Steps, with Afrocuba. It marked me for life.”

She confessed that from then until now she considers herself a student, admirer, researcher, reader, singer in her own way, of all his poetic, musical, visual, philosophical work… always very identified with his humanist thinking and his political positions.

With this concert and his tour of several Latin American countries, Silvio is celebrating his 55 years of artistic career and promised to play classics and songs from his most recent phonogram «Quería Saber» (I Wanted to Know), recorded at the Ojalá studios and released on digital platforms in June 2024.

The recital on the university steps will be the starting shot of the tour that will take him and his musicians to Chile (29 September, 1, 5, and 6 October), Argentina (11, 12, and 21 October), Uruguay (17 and 18 October), Peru (25 October), and Colombia (31 October and 2 November).

Silvio will travel accompanied by talented instrumentalists: on piano, Jorge Aragón; drums, congas, and percussion, Oliver Valdés; on keyboards will be Emilio Vega; on double bass the experienced Jorge Reyes; the tres will be played by Maykel Elizarde; on second guitars, Rachid López; while on flute, clarinet, and backing vocals, Niurka González.