Glenda del E

Glenda was born in Havana and grew up in a musical family, daughter of Cuban singer Mireya Escalante and percussionist Mayito del Monte. Although she received classical training, she had the opportunity to form a group with her mother called Mireya Escalante & Latin Street, in which she had her first approach to salsa and Latin jazz. Still linked to the conservatory, she received an invitation to participate in a New Talent and Model Search piano competition in Toronto, which allowed her to obtain a scholarship at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, the city where she settled with her parents. According to her, the experience of moving to Canada when she was fifteen years old "nurtured [her] creative process and [helped] her open up to a new world of sounds". There she had the opportunity to receive lessons from teachers like John Alonso and Marietta Orlov, as well as participate in various piano competitions and recitals. After graduating from the conservatory, she entered the University of Toronto, where she obtained a Bachelor of Piano Performance; she also pursued a master's degree in Ethnomusicology and Piano Performance at York University. == Career ==

Glenda del E and Q-ban Mixology After joining the canadian pop band The Parachute Club in the late 2000s, in the 2010s she formed the group Glenda del E & Q-ban Mixology, with which she released the album Q-ban Mixology in September 2010. According to Diario Las Américas, it is an album "that reflects the union of the genres it represents", With her band Q-ban Mixology she has performed at events such as the Beaches Jazz Festival, In 2012, she was one of the artists who participated in the recording of the compilation album The New Generation, released by the Beaches International Jazz Festival label. In 2015, she was invited by Colombian singer-songwriter Fernando Osorio to play piano on his album Todo el resto que no estás, Collaboration with Alejandro Sanz and Latin Grammy nomination In 2015, she received an invitation from Spanish artist Alejandro Sanz to be part of his Sirope tour, in which she performed as a pianist and backing vocalist. In 2018, she participated in the recording of #El disco de Sanz and its subsequent backing tour, and collaborated as a pianist on the album Llueve alegría by Spanish singer Malú. In November 2020, she collaborated with Venezuelan singer José Luis Rodríguez during a streaming presentation entitled Directo a casa. The album received a Latin Grammy Award nomination in the category of best instrumental album, and includes versions of songs like "Bésame Mucho" by Consuelo Velázquez, "Te aviso, te anuncio" by Shakira, "Dr. psiquiatra" by Gloria Trevi, and "Babalú" by Margarita Lecuona. Solo career and present day After recording the singles "Me gusta" (2019) and "Soy de aquí" (2020) as a soloist, the Yamaha Music School, the Miami Conservatory of Music, the New York Piano School and the Art Plaza Conservatory, among others. Glenda is a cultural ambassador for New York's Transdiaspora Network, a non-profit project whose mission is to promote HIV prevention and to ensure the integral development of low-income urban communities in the city through school and artistic plans. == Influence and style ==

In an interview for the digital media Toronto Hispano, Glenda mentioned Cuban artists Chucho Valdés, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Bebo Valdés, and José María Vitier, and international musicians Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Nina Simone, Alejandro Sanz, Hazel Scott, and Erykah Badu as her main influences. About her musical style, Glenda said: "For me it is important to share the different styles I can interpret and compose in, that is why I always fuse a bit of soul, pop, R&B, Latin jazz, classical and popular music in each of my presentations [...] I love traditional Cuban music and it is very present during [my] show: son, rumba and the Yoruba roots of which I feel very proud". == Discography ==

Studio albums Singles Collaborations Filmography Video clips == References ==