Nery Cano

On July 29. 2021, Nery Cano died of respiratory failure at the Military Medical Center in Guatemala City. Obituaries and notes of sympathy were published in the media and on social networks, by the Government of Guatemala, the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Ministry of Defense and the Guatemalan Army, the National Symphony Orchestra, National Conservatory of Music, among many other institutions and companies.

He was a member of the Bob Porter Orchestra and Millennium Orchestra. He also participated as a producer of jazz and rock shows with the latin rock band Alux Nahual in 2015.

Commissioned by the Presidency of the Republic, between 1994–96, he produced a series of concerts for the Peace of Guatemala which culminated with the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky, accompanied by special effects, pyrotechnics and royal artillery salvoes.

In 1991, he returned to the Martial Band when he won the tryouts for the General Directorate of the Centennial Symphony Martial Band, of which he served as the conductor and director for 20 years.  As a result of his efforts, this Symphony Band achieved the declaration by the Government as "Cultural Heritage of the Nation"  in 1995. At the same time, Nery Cano founded his own Big Jazz Band and the Primavera Chamber Orchestra.

In 1991, with the purpose of promoting the marimba, a Guatemalan national instrument, he created and produced a new show, "Maderas y Metales" (Wood and Metals), thus promoting the first Symphonic Ensembles in history, incorporating ten marimba ensembles (9 members per group) to the symphonic concept, filling the stage with about 200 musicians at the same time. He began a series of presentations with the Martial Symphony Band and later, with the National Symphony Orchestra. Ensembles with Marimba and Symphony music under the conducting of maestro Nery Cano were still presented with various directors as a tradition. In 2019, this Ensemble "Maderas y Metales" by Maestro Nery Cano was performed jointly with the Embassy of Japan.

In 1980, he married Bilsania Villatoro, and they had three daughters.

Nery Evelio Cano Arreaga (Chiantla, Huehuetenango, May 26, 1956 - Guatemala City, July 29, 2021) was a Guatemalan conductor, composer and arranger. He was a well known trumpet player in Guatemala.