Augusto Blanca: Reaching 80 Is Nothing Out of This World

Reaching the age of 80 is nothing out of this world, said Augusto Blanca Gil (Banes, Holguín, 1945), who was honored today by fellow troubadours and friends at the Hurón Azul venue of the Cuban Writers and Artists Union (Uneac), on the occasion of his eightieth birthday.

A founder of the Nueva Trova movement in Cuba, Blanca Gil told the Cuban News Agency in an exclusive statement that he reached this milestone still singing, striving to be useful, and working every single day without rest. “Why would I get tired?” he asked. “I always hold on to hope. Even though these are complex times, hope lies in a better world,” he added.

Blanca Gil announced he is close to completing a new album titled Postergadas, featuring songs he has accumulated over the years but never recorded. “I’m finally looking at them,” he noted. He also shared that next month he will begin staging a theatrical production with the Okantomí group, a play dating back to the 1990s.

The artist attributes his energy and enthusiasm to his enduring hope and belief in a better world. He emphasized that there are always opportunities, even when they seem scarce, and affirmed that his formula for staying ready is believing that everything can always improve. “I feel 50, what can I say, maybe 25,” the singer-songwriter joked.

During the Uneac gathering, artists including Marta Campos, Heidy Igualada, Juan Carlos Pérez, Ariel Díaz, Pedro Beritán, and Silvio Alejandro Rodríguez performed in tribute to the author of No olvides que una vez tú fuiste sol. They highlighted his extensive work as a promoter of teatrova, a fusion of poetry and song he frequently shared with actress Corina Mestre.

The event also paid tribute to Nicolás Guillén (Camagüey, 1902–Havana, 1989) on the 123rd anniversary of his birth. Guillén, the National Poet of Cuba, was a founder and the first president of Uneac, and the author of numerous works set to music by Cuban troubadours.