The Concert Hall “José Marín Varona”, belonging to the Office of the Historian of Camagüey City, was nominated for the National Prize of the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments 2019, annually conferred by the National Council for Cultural Heritage.
According to the historical research carried out before the intervention, the building is part of an architectural group constituted by three buildings and the first historical references remit us to the year 1758. The conjunct is integrated by two large buildings marked with the number 9 and 13, and the old chapel is located at the center.
The large house marked with the number 9 had two floors from the beginning of the nineteenth century and was purchased by the lawyer Francisco Zayas Bazán Varona, on November 8, 1858. It is worth adding as a fact of interest that in this building resided Carmen Zayas-Bazán Hidalgo, wife of José Martí Pérez. The Cuban hero never resided or was in the mansion; only it is known that, from New York City, Martí enabled it so that the lady could exercise all her rights. José Francisco Martí, the son of both, resided with his mother at the end of the 19th century.
When the Office of the Historian of Camagüey City arrived at the building, its technical team determined that, due to the architectural and typological characteristics, as well as the degree of deterioration that it presented, an Integral Rehabilitation in order to preserve the spatial structure of the property should be carried out, as well as the architectural and artistic elements that still conserved. In addition, it was proposed to recover those elements that had been lost due to improper use and the consequent changes.
They worked on the restoration of the plasterwork, as one of the most representative aesthetic elements of the building, also in the openings and doors of the windows, of neo-Gothic style. The stained glass windows were made by artists of the Cuban Fund of Cultural Assets, reaching an excellent invoice. The furniture was also designed according to the use and the original conception of the property.
The proposal for use was based on the compatibility that should exist between the building and the new use, so the location of the José Marín Varona Concert Hall was proposed to be in this building, which would constitute a space of excellence for the enjoyment of the chamber music of small and medium format and the choral singing.
José Marín Varona was an outstanding patriot and musician from Camagüey, born on March 10, 1859. He was a pedagogue, music critic, orchestra director for theater, composer and founder of the first band of the Artillery Corps of Havana, so he is considered the creator of the military bands in Cuba. He was 15 years old when he joined to the war in 1868, in the insurgent camps of Camagüey and died in 1912, being buried in the necropolis of Colon with military honors.
This April 18, International Monuments Day, the Camagüey people will be attentive to the delivery of the prizes that each year the National Council of Cultural Heritage makes. However, for us, the Concert Hall has already been awarded the highest prize, recognition and value that a cultured people gives to this space that has already hosted the best of local music and great national figures such as Joaquín Clerch, Gastón Joya and the Schola Cantorum Coralina. Another triumph for the culture and conservation of a historic center, Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Photo: Frank Flores Albor
Translated into English by José Carlos García Cruz
