The Listín Diario highlighted over the weekend in separate articles the successes of Dominican show business stars, Juan Luis Guerra, Milly Quezada, Michael Camilo and José Antonio Molina. Dominicans Juan Luis Guerra and Milly Quezada won the Billboard magazine Latin Music Awards. The event was held last week in Miami at the Hotel Fontainbleau of Miami. Juan Luis Guerra won the prestigious CD of the year in the Tropical Music Group for his "Ni es lo mismo ni es igual". Milly Quezada’s latest CD, "Vive," won in the Tropical Music Group female singer category. Meanwhile, in Spain, Michael Camilo was honored by the Spanish artistic community as best arranger 1998 in the III Awards Music Awards of the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE). The Listín Diario said the honor came for his work arranging the music for the "Lorquiana" CD sung by Ana Belén. He composed the music for the poems by Federico García Lorca. For more information on that award, see www.premiosdelamusica.com José Antonio Molina is in his second year of working with Luciano Pavarotti on the preparation of the "Pavarotti and Friends" gala in Modena, Italy. The event will take place 1 June on the grounds of Novis Art. In an interview in the Listín Diario newspaper, he said that it is possible that Pavarotti some day may vocalize a merengue or a bachata. He said Pavarotti shares his criteria that there is no difference between popular and classic music. "There is only good and bad art," he said. Molina has produced "Yaya Overture," (interpreted by the Washington DC Symphony in Kennedy Center) and the Fantasia Merengue" giving a classic touch to the best of Caribbean music. He is working on continuing to take Dominican music to universal levels. "My best weapons are merengue, bolero, rumba and son cubano, it is what we Caribbeans know better than anyone else."
