Photography by Gabriel Cano
Photography by Gabriel Cano
Piano, flute, drums, saxophone, voice, timbal, cajón, bongos, congas, batá, xylophone, guitar, djembe, shekere, güiro, maracas, claves, vibraphone, timpani, tambourine.
A master of 20 instruments, Oak Cliff’s Idania Hernandez has been able to take her music career to the next level.
She started in music at age 5 and attended music school in Cuba for over 13 years.
“I am somebody who practices every day and tries to learn something new every day,” Hernandez says. “Seven days a week I practice, and I take classes and courses.”
Hernandez studied under the direction of Maestro Gonzalo Bermúdez in the musical project “Ismaelillo” with which she developed for more than 10 years.
She jointly studied at the Benny Moré Provincial School of Art and the National Center for the Overcoming of Culture, graduating with a professional medium level in piano, flute and percussion.
She graduated from the Professional Vocational Level at the Mariana de Gonitch National Singing Academy in Havana -Cuba directed by Maestro Hugo Oslé.
Hernandez also has a degree in Social communication from the University of Cienfuegos – Cuba. She arrived in Dallas in January 2016 to continue her music career as she had more possibilities here to grow her work as an artist.
“A few months after coming to Dallas in 2016, I was contracted to play my first gig at the Grand Plaza in Fort Worth,” Hernandez says. “To this day, I perform there at least once a month.”
About three years ago, Hernandez moved to Oak Cliff and has played at spots such as Ocho. In 2021, she became so busy that she decided to open her own LLC to handle her bookings.
This interview was conducted with a translator.
“I’m really grateful for the Oak Cliff area because it seems like my career really took a turn for the better when I moved over here,” she says. “One of the things that really makes me stand out is I am a female musician that’s very versatile and plays over 20 different instruments. My shows are very versatile. I’m able to go from one instrument to another within the same song.”
Hernandez says she loves to connect with her fans and wants to send a message of positivity and that you can do anything you set your mind to.
During her sets, she performs plenty of covers to appeal to the audience but also plays original songs. Her shows include different musical genres such as Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, Cumbia, Ballads, Latin Jazz, and American and international songs.
She says she draws inspiration from her upbringing, her studies and her life experiences in general.
Hernandez recently teamed up with DJ KANE, former singer of the Kumbia Kings for a song called “Amo tu Boca.” She’s also working on a new music video and collaborating with Arturo Soliz of Soliz Entertainment Group.
She is currently working on projects with other artists in hopes that she will become better recognized. Ultimately, she wants to earn a Grammy Award.
“Lots of things are in the works,” Hernandez says. “Hopefully in the next six months, I’ll be able to put out work with people I was fortunate to work with.”
