Through his Twitter account, the president expressed a heartfelt goodbye to Gómez Cairo, whom he described as an indefatigable scholar and a deep connoisseur of the most endearing sounds of the Cuban soul.

He unveiled the charming mysteries of the Bayamo Anthem and was a fervent guardian of the musical heritage in Cuba. Condolences to family and friends, he added.

Gomez Cairo died this Friday morning, the researcher was born in Jagüey Grande, Matanzas, in October, 1949. He studied piano and musicology at the Escuela Nacional de Arte, where he latter worked as a professor of Musical Appreciation and Music History.

He completed his professional training at the Leningrad State Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography, in the Soviet Union, according to the Cuban Institute of Music on his Facebook profile.

He also worked at the National Council of Culture, as a professor at the Holguín Provincial School of Art and at the Higher Institute of Art. He was director of the Odilio Urfé Musical Information and Documentation Center and Vice President of the Cuban Institute of Music.

At the time of his death, he was the director of the Museo Nacional de la Música, a position he had held since 1997.

Among his most significant works are the books “The musical art of Ernesto Lecuona”; “Cuban Music: some processes, creations and paradigmatic figures” and “Creation, realization and development of La Bayamesa, Hymn of Bayamo, National Anthem of Cuba”.

Various articles and essays authored by him were published in the main Cuban cultural magazines.

At the same time, he worked tirelessly to promote and disseminate Cuban music and gave numerous conferences, master classes and courses on music and folklore at universities and schools in Cuba, Germany, the Soviet Union, Nicaragua, Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, Italy, Poland, Colombia, the United States and the Dominican Republic.

Member of Uneac, Gómez Cairo received the National Music and Cultural Heritage Awards, in recognition of his extensive and outstanding work as a researcher and promoter of Cuban music and his consecration and dedication to the investigation and preservation of musical heritage.

For these reasons and because of his deep commitment to Cuban Culture and the Cuban Revolution, he was awarded the Distinction for National Culture and the Alejo Carpentier Order.

By family decision, his body will be cremated and in the next few hours details of the tribute that Cuban artists and cultural institutions will pay him will be offered.

ef/lam/amr