Carlos Cano answers to the questions of the Question Box. Thank you so much Carlos, see you at the International Flute Convention 2016 !

1 > Who is your favorite composer?
That is a difficult question. Maybe Bach, but I like also the jazz musicians as Pat Metheny or my compatriot Paquito D`Rivera. Puccini too.

2 > Which music piece would you take with you on a desert island?
¿Again to an island? I come from a « desert » island (there were no music scores, no records and it was very difficult to repair my flute). Again I would take Bach and again Paquito D`Rivera, but the most important point: in a desert island almost I would spend most of my time composing the music I would like to play.

3 > What profession would you have had if you weren’t a musician?
As a kid I liked painting but I don´t think I could have build a professional career. I also feel curious when thinking how would it feel to run a bar or a nice caffe…

4 > What is your favorite book?
¿Only one? I don´t know. « Concierto Barroco » by Alejo Carpentier would be an option or « El escarabajo » by Mujica… Benedetti, Vargas Llosa or García Márquez I love very much. The Latinamerican literature is fascinating, full or richness and fantasy. As Carpentier said, « Lo real maravilloso » is something that gives and identity to the magic american continent.

5 > What is your favorite meal?
LOL! one more time… only one? I feel this way when my daughters ask me and force me to choose only one answer! The Spanish cuisine is incredible, I love the cuban tropical fruits and, of course, the omelette of Saint-Michel.

6 > Do you have a ritual before going on stage ?
No, but… one moment the necessary fisiologic needs could be taken as a ritual? Before playing I need to go to the bathroom. Obviously I don´t enter it to greet the wc and the walls…

7 > Do you have a luck charm that you carry around with you?
No, but I still keep a red folder that I brought from Cuba more than 30 years ago. Sometime I lend it to my pupils and to my daughters.

8 > Do you have a secret to fight your stress before going on stage?
Inspire, expire, inspire, expire… Tell me about somebody who does not get nervous, I wanna know it. Trevor Wye says that if someone doesn´t get nervious then he is an alien.

9 > Where can we find you when you are not on stage?
At my Conservatoire teaching or inventing crazy musical projects with my friends.

10 > Your favorite movie?
At home we have Movie Nights every Friday. I like pizza very much and we eat it during those sessions. I like Charles Chaplin and the « Great Dictator » or « Quimera del bro ».

11 > A motto?
Four years ago, with my friends Aldo Méndez and Hernán Milla we founded « Veleta Roja », and our mottos would be « Philosophy of the possible dreams » and « Trust, Dream, Create ». They serve us as strong inspiration… and it seems that also works for practical purposes! We just got great news from Los Angeles, our album « Canciones y Palabras » got nominated as Best Album for Children in the Latin GRAMMY Awards®.

12 > What would you want to reincarnate into ?
Uff, I don´t have any idea. Maybe a superhero?

13 > Which composer would you like to meet?
Mozart. I would love to know if the person is as stunning and absolute as the music. But it’s a bit sad, he just passed away, I heard. Is that true? Well, it doesn’t matter, as I will reincarnate as a superhero and I’ll find the way to travel in time! Nevertheless, for the moment I am ok with getting to know composers that like also to perform.

14 > On which flute do you play?
Exclusively on the Powell wooden flute. I don´t like anything else! With this wooden flute I am very happy. Since it came to my hands, it felt like if would have owned it for my whole life. By the way, my flute has a name, it is called « Naná Burukú »

15 > Which advice would you give to a young flutist to succeed in this business?
To be patient and tenacious in his/her work. One needs to have ambition and dreams, but dreams won’t never crystallize if you lack effort and perseverance. The will of prepare oneself well and become better everyday cannot be an obligation, it must be a pleasure. Pleasure is in itself is a goal.

16 > Your best memory as an artist?
I remember playing in an orchestra accompanying the great basoonist Sergio Azzolini. At the end I lost my concentration on my score listening to him. It was something incredible.

17 > Your favorite color?
Red, but not for getting a lipstick!

18 > Your favorite current artist?
My daughters.

19 > Which CD might play in loop on your stereo?
This reminds me a lot to the car trips with my daughters. CDs play one time and another, and they tell me « play again track 2, now track 5… »
You will have noticed for my other responses that I rebel against having to choose something exclusively (except for my flute!). If I would only love tropical fruits I would feel miserable in a mediterranean restaurant. Everything has its own magic and every music needs too and appropriate state of mind and moment. But I will tell you about a Cassette that I burnt from listening when I was a baby flutist: Rampal playing Bolling’s Suite number 1. Now it doesn´t produce the same effect on me but I still find endearing playing it. On that moment it was an eye-opener for me.

20 > Your favorite hobby?
Cousine, painting…