Javier José Mendoza leading the student Symphony Orchestra during rehearsals for the concert.

Student symphony to perform during first-of-its-kind Celia Cruz tribute

November 19, 2025 at 1:50pm

Azúcar!

Students in FIU’s Symphony Orchestra are in for a treat: the orchestra is performing live alongside a group of acclaimed artists during a special tribute to Celia Cruz, the Queen of Salsa.

Celia Sinfónica is a first-of-its-kind concert featuring a symphonic arrangement of some of Cruz’s most iconic songs, including “La Vida Es Un Carnaval” and “Quimbara.” The concert is presented by FIU’s Herbert and Nicole Wertheim School of Music & Performing Arts in partnership with Celia Cruz Entertainment, Loud & Live and FIU CasaCuba. It will take place Saturday, Nov. 22 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

The concert features stars including Willy Chirino, Lena Burke, Albita, Lucrecia, Goyo, Lissette and Brenda Navarrete. FIU Associate Professor Javier José Mendoza, director of orchestral studies, has been preparing the students for the concert and will be leading the student orchestra as it accompanies the stars during the concert.

The students are rising to the occasion. “I’m very proud of them,” Mendoza said during a rehearsal this week. Students have been hard at work preparing for the big day. And, they have enjoyed every minute of it.

“I love it,” said music performance major Adrian Ulloa, who plays the cello. Ulloa was born and raised in Miami, and he’s grown up listening to Celia Cruz songs and Latin rhythms all around him.

“Miami is the heart of Latin music,” Ulloa said. “This concert brings the beauty of classical music together with Latin culture and music. It’s a unique sound. This music is in our blood. It just makes me want to move [and dance].”

Lucrecia Pérez-Saéz, one of the artists who will be singing at the concert, recently came to campus to rehearse with the orchestra.

When asked what her favorite part about working with FIU students is, she said: “Everything!”

“It’s marvelous having contact with students, seeing their faces, their learning, their yearning [passion]… it’s vital,” she said. “I was happy to come and establish a connection with them and rehearse with them. I too was a music student once. When you have contact with students studying classical music and who are also nourishing themselves with our Latin music… I’m very proud to [be part of] this fusion and I’m proud to honor Celia.”

Watch clips from the students' rehearsal with Lucrecia, one of the artists performing at the concert.

Honoring a legacy

Taimy Balbuzano is earning her master’s degree in music with a focus in orchestral conducting. She is the assistant conductor for the concert under Mendoza. The tribute to Cruz has a special place in her heart.

Balbuzano is a Cuban native who grew up studying music in Cuba. And yet, she had never heard of Cruz, a legendary Cuban singer.

The Cuban government banned Cruz’s music from the island because of her opposition to communism and Fidel Castro’s regime. In fact, like many other artists who voiced discontent with the Cuban government, Cruz was erased from the country’s music scene and history. Young musicians like Balbuzano grew up oblivious to Cruz’s legacy.

It wasn’t until Balbuzano arrived in Miami in the 1990s that she heard about Cruz.

"You could hear her music everywhere in Miami," Balbuzano recalled. Immediately, she began listening to all of Cruz’s music, and she loved it. (“Quimbara is my favorite song because you can see that Celia was such a happy woman,” she added.)

Today, Balbuzano is proud to be involved in the tribute for Cruz.

“Being part of this concert is very meaningful to me,” Balbuzano said. “I’m glad to help celebrate her. It’s also very meaningful that FIU, which is in Miami, is celebrating Celia Cruz. She sang for the Hispanic world, and Miami has such a unique blend of cultures.”

“It’s really exciting to be part of this concert. It’s connecting me to my Hispanic heritage. I'm Venezuelan, and we listen to salsa music. I think my favorite song from the concert is Guantanamera.”

- Psychology major Valeria Alvarez, one of the orchestra’s bass players

Fusing genres

The concert is one of various innovative, genre-bending performances the students have participated in within the last year. Through a collaboration with Warner Music Latina, the student Symphony Orchestra performed live with Latin Grammy-winning reggaeton artist Yandel during a concert hosted at FIU last year.

The students were later invited to perform and record again with Yandel for his album, Sinfónico (En Vivo), which brought together the energy of urban music with the sophistication of orchestral performance. The album was nominated for a 2026 GRAMMY, effectively providing Mendoza and the students with their first GRAMMY nominations. The GRAMMY awards will take place Feb. 1, 2026.

FIU students also recently performed Rubén Blades’ Maestra Vida as part of FIU’s 2025 Music Festival. The large-scale Blades production is a “salsa opera” that united FIU’s full orchestra with voice and music theatre students.

These popular-classical music combinations help diversify the talents, skills and career possibilities of students, Mendoza said.

“[These experiences] give them practical experience on how to function in a professional situation that is not a classical professional situation,” Mendoza explained. “These types of projects are very different than going and playing Beethoven with the South Florida Symphony, and I’m very happy that students have both types of experiences before starting their careers. FIU is a place that gives incredible opportunities to our students.”

Bass player Francisco Castillo agreed. Castillo is earning his degree in music business and production, and he plans to become a composer. He is one of several students who both performed with Yandel and will participate in Saturday’s tribute to Cruz.

“It’s just amazing,” Castillo says. “Playing in this concert and also with Yandel…being able to explore other genres, it’s really fulfilling. I’m 100% sure that I’ll use what I’m learning now about fusion of genres and creating new sounds in my future as I compose music.”

“I think it’s an honor and it’s really exciting to be playing in this concert. I’m from the Midwest. I hadn’t really heard about most of these songs. I love that I’m surrounded by people who feel its deep roots. They make me feel the music deeper, too. I’m learning new rhythms, but I’m also learning about more than music. I’m learning about the culture and the background of these songs. I’ve even learned some salsa dance steps during rehearsal.”

- Madalyn Clements, a violin player in the orchestra

FIU and Celia

FIU has longstanding connections with Cruz. In 1992, FIU granted Cruz an Honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree. And the Celia Cruz Foundation has been a longtime collaborator with FIU CasaCuba.

The idea for the concert came when Omer Pardillo-Cid, president of the Celia Cruz Foundation, and Lili Betancourt Space, exeutive director of FIU CasaCuba, came together to discuss ways that the Celia Cruz Foundation and FIU could join forces to celebrate Cruz’s 100^th birthday. The Wertheim School of Music and its students eagerly became involved in the project.

“The music of Celia is timeless,” Pardillo-Cid said. “Seeing the new generation perform her music is very touching for me. I worked for Celia all my life. I started working with Celia at the age of 17 as an intern. I went on to become her publicist and then her manager. Today I’m the executor of her estate.”

He said he’s proud to collaborate with FIU to keep Cruz’s legacy alive.

In 2021, the Celia Cruz Foundation donated 230 of Cruz’s music scores to FIU. “Celia’s original music scores were donated to FIU, to the School of Music, so future generations can learn her music and touch those arrangements [that are] from the '50s with her handwriting…it’s very special. What better place for it to be than FIU, which is very close to the community, very close to Miami?”

During a recent concert rehearsal on campus, Pardillo-Cid surprised students by providing each with two free tickets to the concert so their parents, family members or other loved ones could watch them perform live.

“This project really embodies exactly the vision for CasaCuba,” Betancourt Space said. “Celia is so iconic in the Cuban American community, and she is truly international. She brings so many people together from lots of places beyond the Cuban American community. It’s really about bringing her to the whole community, to multiple generations, folks all over the world. She’s an internationally recognized icon. Who better to be the ambassador for FIU and CasaCuba than Celia?”