This concert will feature the incredible Hilario Durán, Saskatoon’s SJO, plus many of the University of Saskatchewan Jazz Intensive jazz camp faculty. Come experience the SJO featuring Hilario Durán in this unforgettable live energy concert as a dynamic force in Western Canada’s vibrant jazz scene.
About Hilario Durán:
Juno and Latin Grammy Award–winning pianist, composer, arranger, and musical director Hilario Durán is internationally acclaimed for his remarkable virtuosity and creative vision.
Born and raised in Havana, he grew up in a musical family deeply immersed in Cuba’s rich cultural traditions.
Classically trained, Durán developed a distinctive voice shaped by the great Cuban pianists, composers, and bandleaders of the island’s golden era.
Durán began his professional career with Cuba’s Los Papa Cun-Cun Ensemble, later rising to prominence in the 1970s as Chucho Valdés’s chosen successor in the pioneering big band Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna. Since making Canada his home, he has become a major figure in the country’s musical landscape, earning numerous awards and distinctions.
These include the 2007 Chico O’Farrill Lifetime Achievement Award from Latin Jazz U.S.A., recognition as One of the 10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians (2009), the Latin Jazz Award at Latin Awards Canada (2020), the Louis Applebaum Composers Award, and a nomination for Best Original Song at the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards for the film The Cuban. He has also been honored by the City Council of Cleveland, Ohio, and was a finalist for the 2023 Toronto Arts Foundation Award.
Most recently, Durán won the Juno Award for Best Album of the Year (Group) and the 2024 Latin Grammy Award for Best Arrangement for his striking arrangement of “A Night in Tunisia.”
A towering contributor to Canada’s cultural fabric, Hilario Durán continues to represent a vital and influential chapter in the evolution of contemporary Cuban music.
