Catalina Berroa
composer
Catalina Berroa Ojea (28 February 1849 – 23 November 1911) was a Cuban pianist, music teacher and composer. Cuba's first female conductor. She was the first female conductor in Cuba and mastered seven instruments.
Life and career
Catalina Berroa was born in Trinidad, Las Villas, and studied with local teachers to master several instruments. She operated a music academy in Trinidad where she taught students including her nephew, pianist and composer Lico Jimenez. She also worked as organist in the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, and as organist and choir conductor of the Holy Trinity Church.
Berroa played cello in a trio with Manuel Jimenez on violin and Ana Luisa Vivanco on piano. She also performed as violinist of the Brunet Theater orchestra.
Works
Berroa composed songs, guarachas, hymns and liturgical and sacred music.
The public source identifies “Catalina Berroa” as composer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Catalina, Berroa and composer.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5051258. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1849 and 1911.
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This entry incorporates text from “Catalina Berroa” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.