Usher says goodbye to Havana

The famous American rapper sang at the Factory of Cuban Arts –a new arts center known the world over- along with David Mathews and producer Smokey Robinson. The singer thanked the Cuban people for their warmth and said he was impressed at the welcome he received in the town of Regla, which he visited that day.

As part of the US delegation’s program, Usher Raymond, shared with children at Havana’s Miguel Fernández Roig primary school on Wednesday morning. Also part of the group were musician and producer Smokey Robinson, actor Kalpen Suresh Modi, Broadway producer, Margo Lion, violinist Joshua Bell, singer and actor John Lloyd Young, and others. Usher sang “La Guantanamera” and “Cuba que linda es Cuba” along with the primary school children, who were visibly excited about the exchange with the American musicians, actors and producers. Usher also played and joked with the pupils. The artists entered the classrooms to have a direct dialogue with the students and professors and take a first-hand look at the island’s education systems. Joshua Bell, considered one of the most talented violists of times and the owner of a Stradivarius from 1713, played excerpts from a piece by famous German composer, Johan Sebastian Bash.

Following their visit to the school, the delegation went to Finca Vigía Museum, the old resident of Nobel Prize Winner, US writer Ernest Hemingway. The delegation also visited the Fine Arts Museum and had an exchange with officials from the National Music Institute. They also visited the Cuban Music Institute where they exchanged views with Cuban musicians and also visited the Cuban Film Institute sharing with their Cuban colleagues.

The Presidential Committee for the Arts and Humanities made up of White House aides wound up its visit to Cuba to strengthen cultural relations between the two countries.