Nicolás Casimiro

Dominican singer born in Santo Domingo on April 28th, 1911, known as Colás. He was an empirical musician who, with his great talent, was able to reach a level of perfection in the use of his voice. He became known in the 1930s through the national radio stations HI2, HIX, and HIN, and by the year 1940 he was so popular that he won the contest that was held at the Teatro Travieso, where he was chosen as the most popular singer of radio in Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo). His triumphs continued to rise and in 1943 he was hired by "La Voz del Yuna" to sing with the Super Orquesta San José. In 1947 he returned to HIZ where he performed with the Continental Orchestra. In 1948 he returned to La Voz del Yuna, when the station had already settled in Ciudad Trujillo. In that same year he was chosen as the most popular singer in a contest that was sponsored by the magazine Salón Fígaro and that was realized by the vote of the public. In that period, he sang in duo with Fellita Cabrera. Nicolás Casimiro sang a fundamentally Dominican repertoire, which included songs by Juan Lockward, Diógenes Silva, Enriquillo Sánchez, Bullumba Landestoy and Leopoldo Gómez among others. In 1957 he recorded with La Voz Dominicana a series of pieces that appeared on 45 RPM singles; among them were: "Españolita", "Su Preocupación", "Vega Vieja" and "Silencio". Later, he recorded several albums, including "Nicolás Casimiro Y Sus Amigos", "Nicolás Casimiro Canta" and "Ese Es Nicolás Casimiro". His repertoire was extensive and varied, rich in genres. His voice had a beautiful timbre, with a very accurate concept of tuning and an incomparable Antillean sentiment. On September 17th, 1964, Casimiro (who's nickname was Colás) died in the city where he was born.