Music From Cuba

Ten years ago, I had the privilege of going to Havana, Cuba, with a number of other instrumentalists through a ministry called Global Missions Project. It was a life-changing experience, as I was greatly inspired by the Christians of Cuba who have endured so many trials and persecutions through the years. I was particularly blessed to hear dozens of original songs that had been written by Cuban composers, beautiful and heartfelt expressions of their deep faith and love for the Lord. I ended up going back a year later by myself to work with some of these songwriters in helping them to transcribe and edit their music for distribution on the island.

After I returned, I wanted to find a way to make this music available to people in the U.S., so with the help of several others, developed a website called AlabanzaCubana.com ("Alabanza Cubana" means "Cuban Praise" and is the title of the hymnal published by the Baptists in Cuba). The site features two CDs and a songbook containing 40 songs by Havana-area composers. We were also able to post mp3s for both the full recordings and the accompaniment tracks for distribution through CD Baby.

In addition, we have a section on our website that features a choral arrangements of two of the most popular Alabanza Cubana songs, plus a collection consisting of 10 titles arranged for solo instrument with keyboard or track accompaniment. I hope you'll take time to check out all these resources!

Next spring I'm hoping to return to Cuba, this time to the eastern part of the island, on another GMP mission. If you'd like to support me in this, please let me hear from you.

One thing we always do when we go is take hard-to-get supplies for the players there, things like clarinet reeds, valve oil, violin strings, and smaller musical instruments. If you'd like to help provide some of these items, please let me know.