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Enriquito Nunez Rodriguez, Artistic Director of the National Theater of Cuba.

Lyrics and Music by Enriquito Nuñez Rodriguez Maybe in Athens, once in a lifetime my flag could make me cry. Once in Athens we could possibly get what my dreams always pry. With efforts and passion, discipline and honor, I’ll give my very best try. Maybe in Athens, once in a lifetime, my flag could make me cry.

Excellences magazine talked to Enriquito Nuñez Rodriguez, art director of Cuba’s National Theater in Havana and one of the founders of the New Troubadour Movement, in which he’s worked as a songwriter for over 35 years. In this exclusive interview –with the backdrop of a new melody he’s specially composed for the Cuban delegation to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens- the well-known composer talks about how he came up with this new tune and the expectations about this marching song exclusively written for such a unique sport occasion.

Q- As to this musical composition that you call a marching song and that’ll represent the Cuban delegation in Athens, we’d like to know the motifs that inspired you and how you composed the hymn altogether. A- I was watching the Olympiad of Cuban Sports and thinking of the upcoming Olympic Games in Athens. That’s how the idea of writing a new song first crossed my mind. I pieced it together as a hymn or a marching song for our athletes. Once I wrote it I took the demo to the INDER headquarters and they approved it unanimously.

I must say that I usually write the lyrics first and then I compose the music. That wasn’t so this time. I’d composed the music some time ago, so I started working on the lyrics. I got acquainted with the issue and I started thinking of what a top athlete can go through when he’s about to be an Olympic champion. The image that came to me was that of Cuban Olympic medalists standing on the dais, getting their gold medals and then listening the national anthem of their country as they see their flag being raised. In ninety percent of the cases, you see teardrops rolling down their cheeks. That’s what “Maybe in Athens” is all about. The first three stanzas give you a picture of what the song is actually like. The rest of the lyrics flowed out so easily and naturally because, both emotionally and sentimentally, I put myself in the shoes of those athletes who cherish the possibility of making the dream of their lifetime come true.

Q- What can you tell us about both the instrumental and singing parts of the song? A- Once the song was finished, I got in touch with Cuban maestro, keyboardist and musical director Juan Carlos Rivero from the Moncada band. We made the orchestral arrangements and set out to find the singers. It had to be a man and a woman. So, I went to see Niurka Reyes, an excellent singer that got me my first Adolfo Guzman Award in the year 2000. Then I happened on my friend Augusto Enriquez, the former lead singer of Moncada who has had a fabulous career as a soloist –as a matter of fact, he’s the only Latin American who’s sung together with Pavarotti. I put the song before his eyes, he liked it and there we are the two singers for song. Then we completed the whole thing with a magnificent band of vocalists, Novel Voz, a coed octet made up of four men and four women.

We’re also honored to count on the collaboration of the National Symphonic Orchestra. We started this out as a digital project. Orchestral arrangements were made by maestro Juan Carlos Rivero who, relying on his own PC’s software, made a digital arrangement and added strings and brass sounds. We mixed the whole thing with the recording of real instruments and the final result is a song that sends an emotional message from the athletes competing in Athens about their willingness to vie for their flag, their homeland and for the medals.

Q- What immediate musical projects are taking your time right now? A- I’m waiting for a chance to record my second CD as a songwriter. I’ve worked in other collective projects, including a recent collaboration with lyrics composed by Tony Guerrero, the Cuban hero jailed in the U.S. Other artists have recorded a few songs of mine in their CDs. But I’ve got my hopes pinned on this one with cuts of my own. The title song will be “With Some Tenderness” and I’ll bring in some such top acts as famous Puerto Rican crooner Danny Rivera, Amauri Perez, Miriam Ramos, Liuva Maria Evia, Anabel Lopez, Niurka, Mayito Rivera (from the Van Van) and many others. The CD culls my songs of yesterday and today, and it’s my coming of age compilation in which tenderness, love and sweetness are the main ingredients.