Magela Herrera

[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_image _id=”4″ ][cs_element_image _id=”5″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][cs_element_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_text _id=”8″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][cs_element_row _id=”9″ ][cs_element_column _id=”10″ ][cs_element_video _id=”11″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][cs_element_row _id=”12″ ][cs_element_column _id=”13″ ][cs_element_global_block _id=”14″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content][cs_content_seo]Magela Herrera grew up between two worlds: one her family’s deep ties to a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west A rican and European; the other the years she spent learning and studying classical music at the Conservatory of Music in her native Havana.
She is an afro-Cuban flautist vocalist and composer who holds a Master in Jazz/improvised music performance and a Bachelor degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music. Throughout her career, Herrera has toured worldwide developing a unique timbre, phrasing technique, rhythm and melodic skills on the flute. She has also evolved as a pianist, vocalist, arranger and composer leading her own projects. Today Magela Herrera is considered one of Cuba’s leading flute players in jazz and popular music scene. Often praised for her unique background from Latin Jazz, European jazz, and Afro-Cuban music traditions, she was a member of the renowned band Mezcla, one of the most famous Cuba’s leading jazz & fusion ensembles She has also shared stage with an extensive list of acclaimed artists such as Chucho Valdez, Roberto Garcia, Ruy Lopez Nussa (Cuba); Barbara Dane (USA); Jan Eggum(Norway), Sverre Indris Joner and Hovedøen Social Club (Norway), Alejandro Vargas (Cuba), Sanskriti Shrestha (Nepal) and Oslo Chamber Orchestra (Norway), Christian Balvig and Eliel Lazo and The Cuban funk machine (Denmark).
For the last years she has been featured at Oslo Jazz festival, Oslo world music festival, Copenhagen jazz festival (Denmark), Lunatos Festival (Toronto, Canada) and at different jazz clubs and venues worldwide.
Herrera holds a nomination for best flute solo in Latin Jazz 2010, for her flute improvisation on Mezcla’s CD “I’ll see you in Cuba” by the prestigious New York based magazine Jazz Corner: Latin Jazz magazine. She also got a wonderful review from the prominent magazine All about jazz for her featuring in the same album: “Magela Herrera’s flute…. she injects a remarkable beauty into her playing, yet she does not shy from getting into a deeper groove without losing her sense of balance.” (Article by Jerry D ́Souza.)[/cs_content_seo]