Omar Puente

Biography

Born in Santiago de Cuba, Omar learned his love of violin from his father. As a student at Esteban Salas, Santiago’s finest music school, Omar studied classical music under world renowned professors. At the age of 12, Omar left his family to travel alone to Havana and take up his place at the Escuela Nacional de Arte. The next six years were spent studying classical music by day under Russian and Cuban masters, and Cuban music by night in Havana’s famous music Halls. After graduating from the Instituto Superior de Arte (Cuba’s university for the performing arts), Omar joined the José María Vitier band and toured Cuba, Mexico, and finished up at the New York Jazz Festival. He joined the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba (NSOC) where he progressed to first chair. During this time he continued to play with other bands and made an operatic tour of Italy, played at Club Tropicana, made tours of Europe with Rubén González and Latin America with Guillermo Rubalcaba. He also began to develop a recording career, working with the likes of Orquesta Revé, Charanga Habanera, Pablo Milanés, Leo Brouwer and Silvio Rodríguez.

Since arriving in England in 1997, Omar has maintained an international profile, playing all over Europe, the USA and Africa, playing with such musicians as Tito Puente, Kirsty MacColl, Jools Holland and Courtney Pine. Omar has appeared on the BBC and several ITV channels, various radio shows as well as at venues the length and breadth of Britain: from Aberdeen to the Isle of Wight, Newcastle to the Eden Project, Belfast to Cork including Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, The Jazz Cafe, Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Royal Festival Hall.