When the Minnesota Orchestra plays in Cuba this week, the visit will not only symbolize the reopening of relations between the United States and Cuba, but also healing for an acclaimed ensemble that was "almost destroyed" by a long and bitter lockout.

BBC DJ, label owner and global music tastemaker Gilles Peterson's series of albums, created in partnership with Havana Club rum's Havana Cultura initiative, has set a bar for American producers now eyeing Cuba as a recording destination. The purposefully eclectic Havana Cultura is a series of seven records spanning hip-hop, electronic music, jazz and classic, sacred Cuban sounds as well as sessions with some of Cuba's finest musicians and producers. In sum, they are a portrait of contemporary Cuban music, its challenges, and its promise.

Carlos Acosta is set to bring his show Cubania back to London 27 July – 2 August, with dancers from Cuba's National Ballet company and the brilliant Danza Contemporanea de Cuba.

Over the weekend 20 gay couples were symbolically married in Cuba in "celebrations of love" during an anti-Homophobia demonstration. The presentation was meant to raise awareness for the legalization and acceptance of same-sex unions.

Lucia Huergo, female pioneer in experimental music in Cuba died last week. Her legacy includes an important contribution to the development of home grown rock with group Sintesis.

Blackened tile roofs and colonial-style homes betray the passage of time in the old city of Santiago de Cuba. From the balconies of the emblematic Hotel Casa Granda on Heredia bustling street exposes the everlasting spirit of a city that lives between the ancient and the modern ages.

The Oscar-nominated documentary on Cuban music, directed by Wim Wenders, is set to be followed by Buena Vista Social Club – Adios, directed by Lucy Walker.

The Havana Art Biennial has consistently defended transforming daily live into motifs for the artistic creation; an intention that has evolved to become a method of work. The twelfth edition of the biennial, to be held from May 22 to June 22, strongly ratifies this.

We have 5 copies of the fantastic new CD by Buena Vista Social Club, courtesy of World Circuit. To enter, email office@cuba50.org with your name and contact details answering the question:

Buena Vista Social Club: Lost and Found
World Circuit 2015

Making good on its promise to make more performances and events part of its official program, the 12th Havana Biennial will include theatrical presentations, concerts, and artist's events-including a weight-lifting contest for women.

The CubaDisco International festival, organised by the Cuba Institute of Music, is a presentation of the world of recorded music in Cuba, with a commercial fair, which raises great expectations amongst musicians and the public.
The ‘Gran Coral Isla que Canta' and the Festival of Choir Music, both in April, build the momentum in the lead up to Cubadisco, one of the most anticipated musical events of the year in Cuba.
The ICM runs the ‘Gran Coral Isla que Canta' event in all provinces across the country, said the spokesperson Marta Olivera.

OVER one hundred artists from 44 countries have accepted the challenge to participate in the 12th Havana Biennial, giving free rein to their creativity and modifying urban spaces across the Cuban capital with their art.

Despite knowing in advance that they were headed for the semi-finals at the top of Group A, Cuba's Domadores team pulled no punches on April 16 and defeated the British Lionhearts 5-0 in the penultimate weekend of the regular season of the 5th World Series of Boxing.

Talking about human relations which develop in extreme situations and bring a sensitive reflection on the question of war, ‘The Ambush'(La Emboscada), film by the Cuban director Alejandro Gil, will arrive at the big screen in Cuba on 23 April, for its national premiere.