Nini Cáffaro, Erasmo Alfonso Cáffaro Durán (born November 25, 1939 in San Pedro de Macorís

San Pedro de Macorís

San Pedro de Macorís is a municipality and the capital of the San Pedro de Macorís province in the Dominican Republic.-Demographics:...

, Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

) is an internationally-known singer.

Biography

Cáffaro began singing gospel while attending elementary school. He started his professional career as a singer in 1959, participating in the Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...

 television show La Hora del Moro, hosted by Rafael Solano

Rafael Solano

Rafael Solano Sánchez is a Dominican pianist, song-writer, composer, arranger, author, and former Dominican ambassador to UNESCO. He is credited with writing over a hundred songs of various genres that include romantic, folk, as well as choral, religious, and of course, merengue music...

 and transmitted by Rahintel.

In 1961 he made his first recording, Violeta. Later, in 1962, he recorded Juan Lockward's song "Ayúdame a olvidar".

In 1965, Cáffaro continued his career with the hit song "En ruinas", written by Rafael Solano

Rafael Solano

Rafael Solano Sánchez is a Dominican pianist, song-writer, composer, arranger, author, and former Dominican ambassador to UNESCO. He is credited with writing over a hundred songs of various genres that include romantic, folk, as well as choral, religious, and of course, merengue music...

. Later, he recorded a cover of the famous hit song: "Cada vez más".

Cáffaro became more widely known when he won the First Prize Award of the Festival de la Cancion Dominicana in 1968 with Rafael Solano

Rafael Solano

Rafael Solano Sánchez is a Dominican pianist, song-writer, composer, arranger, author, and former Dominican ambassador to UNESCO. He is credited with writing over a hundred songs of various genres that include romantic, folk, as well as choral, religious, and of course, merengue music...

's song "Por Amor". This propelled him to international fame. The next year, he won one of the awards in the first Festival de la Cancion Latina in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 Later, in 1973, he won an award in the Festival OTI de la Canción in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Cáffaro subsequently performed concerts in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Curaçao

Curaçao

Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

, Aruba

Aruba

Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...

 and Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

. He became known as El Señor de los Festivales or "The Festival Master."

Nini Cáffaro is still active as a singer. He currently works for the Cervecería Nacional Dominicana. Cáffaro is married with four children and six grandchildren.