Humberto Zaldivar

Humberto Zaldivar Mitchell was born in Camagüey Cuba in 1974. He comes from a traditional family of musicians. His father Humberto Zaldivar Wambrug, with trumpet as his main instrument, was conductor of the symphony orchestra in his native city as well as composer, arranger and professor at the Camagüey Conservatory of Music. He received his first music lessons from his father at the age of 6. Four years later he successfully passed the entrance examination for trumpet at the "Escuela Vocacional de Artes" (College with focus on music) of Camagüey. There he also received his basic musical education.
In 1986, he participated in a regional competition in classical and Cuban music in the province of Camagüey, where he won first prize in both categories. In the same year, he was allowed to represent his city of Camagüey in the contest "Amadeo Roldán" at the national level in Havana. Students from all music schools and institutions in Cuba participated in this contest. He placed second overall and first in the Cuban music category.

After finishing his elementary education, he enrolled in the most prestigious state music school "Escuela Nacional de Arte (E.N.A)" in Havana to complete his classical studies. At his related exam on May 22, 1993, he graduated in the main subject "Classical Trumpet" as well as in another subject "Instruction in Music Theory and Practice".

During the rest of 1993, he first devoted half a year to practical music practice within the 12-member vocal group "Ébano y Marfil". Subsequently, he was the first trumpet player of the band "Campo Alegre" and accompanying formation of the "Reina de la Música Campesina" ("Queen of Folklore") Celina Gonzales and Reutilio Jr. (vocals). With this formation they appeared in various television and radio programs, filmed documentaries and went on international tours, including Japan, Canada, Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. In Colombia, he was allowed to perform at various festivals in 1995: Feria de Cali, Feria de las Flores de Medellín, etc., with Oscar de León, "Grupo Niche", Gambino Pampini, Joe Arroyo and "Guayacán", among others.

In 1996 he joined the young formation "Grupo Asere ". At the end of the year he played with the tres virtuoso Juan de la Cruz / (Cotó) and his band "Eco del Caribe", with whom he recorded his first CD in 1997 under the title "A mi Yemayá" in the famous EGREM studio in Havana. Later that year, he also performed with the aforementioned formation within the framework of the "Foundation of Cuban Authors and Artists" / U.N.E.A.C. (Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba) in Havana; among others, in solo accompaniment (trumpet) of the guest musician Jane Bunnett (jazz flute and soprano saxophone).

In that year (1996) he was contacted by Compay Segundo "Buena Vista Social Club" to record with him in the "Studio Ojalá" of the guitarist, singer and composer Silvio Rodríguez three CDs for the label "Warner Music"; "LO MEJOR DE LA VIDA", "DUET" and "GRACIAS COMPAY".

He closed the year 1997 with the band "Ecos del Caribe" with a successful tour in the Dominican Republic, which included several presentations on Cuban television, with other prominent musicians - Chucho Valdéz with Irakere, Papi Oviedo, among others. In 1998/99 he worked regularly on Cuban television and radio for various music programs, including the series "Mi Salsa".

In January of 2000, he played a theme with the band "Eco del Caribe" in the film "Cuban Fire", which was presented at the Cannes Film Festival, among others. At the same time, he participated in the first recording of a CD of unedited tracks by the late musician and composer Lili Martínez. During July 2000, he accompanied the well-known Cuban singer Caridad Hierrezuelo on an extensive European tour (12 concerts in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and Austria). During this tour, jazz drummer Julio Barreto (ex-musician of the formation of famous jazz piano virtuoso Gonzalo Rubalcaba) became aware of him and hired him for his quartet for his European tour (12 performances in Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Germany).

In 2001 he began his career in Germany accompanying various musicians and formations, such as "Cubanísimo" from Hamburg and "Sexteto Chanchullo". In July of that year he performed at the Andria Jazz Festival in Italy with "Jazz Sexteto Chanchullo". In August he played at the Jazz Festival in Hamburg with the band "Cómplices" and afterwards he recorded a CD with this formation. At the end of the year followed a tour of Norway, which received positive reviews, with the "Jazz Cuarteto Chanchullo" accompanying the aforementioned "Diva del Son" Caridad Hierrezuelo. In 2002, the Lecco Jazz Festival in Italy featured the "Chanchullo Sextet".

In the beginning of the year 2003 he played in the Rolf Liebermann Studio of the NDR in Hamburg with the Gateway Orquestra as part of the classical music crossover project "Parsifal goes La Habana"/ Reminiscence of Richard Wagner. Later in the year I performed at the "Festival de Musica Cubana" with the "Chanchullo Sextet" at the Conzertgebouw in Amsterdam and subsequently started a project with the pop singer Juliette "Chocolatina Blanca".

Since 2005 he has been playing together with Roberto Blanco at various concerts and since 2010 he has been a member of the world-famous band Afro-Cuban All Stars from the USA and Cuba. They play at many festivals around the world. In 2016 to 2018 he was allowed to participate in other CD productions; "Seguimos" with the band "Son pa Ti" from Germany, "First steps" with Carolyne Pirulli" and "The offbeat of hearts - corazon sincopado" with the band "Salsamania".

He has also been performing with Helene Fischer since 2017, and with the famous Cuban musician Tony Martinez & Cuban Power, who lives in Bern, since 2019. He also has a jazz project with the double bass sit Branko Armsek throughout Germany.

Currently he is working on his Cuban Jazz project as well as his first album as a soloist.

Humberto Zaldivar Mitchell was born in Camagüey Cuba in 1974. He comes from a traditional family of musicians. His father Humberto Zaldivar Wambrug, with trumpet as his main instrument, was conductor of the symphony orchestra in his native city as well as composer, arranger and professor at the Camagüey Conservatory of Music. He received his first music lessons from his father at the age of 6. Four years later he successfully passed the entrance examination for trumpet at ...