Eldis La Rosa, born in Santiago de Cuba, started his musical education at the age of seven in the Palacio de Pioneros and graduated at the Esteban Salas Conservatory and the Escuela Profesional de Música in saxophone and percussion. In Cuba, he played in numerous bands such as Edición Sonera, Los Kinnin and the orchestra of Cabaret Tropicana, and was a member of the ‘Banda Municipal’ of Santiago de Cuba – the city’s oldest cultural institution. In Havana, he worked as an arranger for the saxophone quartet Habana Sax and taught at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Artes (ENA). He arrived in Vienna at the end of the 90s, where he has been working as a musician, composer and arranger in a wide range of musical styles. Here he founded his band, the Eldis La Rosa Group.
Eldis La Rosa has played at numerous international and national festivals and stages (Jazz an der Donau, Jazzfest Vilshofen, Jazzfest Wien, Trigon Jazz Chisinau, Jazz Plaza La Habana, Woodstock Poznan, Wellenklänge, Donaufestival, Porgy & Bess, Konzerthaus, Musikverein, Radiokulturhaus, Sargfabrik, Szene Wien, Kasematten, Spielboden and many more). and with many musicians from the local jazz and world music scene (Hans Tschiritsch, Jon Sass, Alegre Corrêa, Martin Lubenov, Otto Lechner, Heavy Tuba, Dorretta Carter and many more). For many years he performed with the Polish jazz-rock cult band Voo Voo and was guest of honour with the Polish Radio-TV and Symphony Orchestra.
In 2020, he formed the international quartet ‘Eldis La Rosa & Colores’ and produced the album ‘Tiptoe walking’ (Preiser Records), which was nominated for the ‘Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik’ in the world music category in 2021. Numerous performances with his band followed.
Eldis La Rosa has been working as a music teacher for thirty years and also runs numerous workshops focussing on percussion. He sees these as a tribute to his Afro-Caribbean roots and as a musical contribution to understanding the relationships between the different cultures of today.
With his children’s project ‘Parampampín. Children & The Caribbean”, created in 2008, Eldis La Rosa continues to perform on stage and tours schools and children’s libraries to convey Spanish-German children’s songs and Cuban joie de vivre in a rousing way.