Armando Garcia Perez, aka Armandito, was born on April 28, 1970 in San Luis , a small town in the Province of Santiago de Cuba , where the great Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer was born.

Son of Aleida Perez , primary school teacher, and Armando Garcia, Comerce Manager, Armandito became the first musician in the family.

At the age of five, he was given his first instrument, a little guitar, at the behest of his grandmother.

It was his grandmother who had first discovered his inclination towards the arts. She, herself, was a poet and her interest in the arts was something that they shared.

At twelve years old when he finished his primary school studies, his mother Aleida Perez took him to the Estevan Salas Conservatorium of Music in Santiago de Cuba, his home town.

To enter the conservatorium he had to pass a number of rigorous musical and artistic aptitude tests.

He started performing at the age of twelve at the Conservatorium (whilst he was studying there) and participated in music competitions among schools and festivals. When he was 14 he performed in the Palacio de los Pioneros Big Band It was there, that he first took popular Cuban music seriously, due to the influence of his music teacher Inaudis Paisan Mallet. Then at 16 he started to play in the ‘comparsas' y ‘paseos' in carnival times in Santiago de Cuba , the cradle of Son style of music.

He started his musical studies there in 1982 specialising in the Trumpet.

After eight years of intensive study he graduated as an instrumentalist in Trumpet as well as a director and arranger in Cuban popular music in 1990.

He started his professional career with the Orquesta Los Tainos with whom he travelled around Cuba playing in carnivals and cabarets in different cities. Later he became the Musical Director of Los Tainos. In 1996 with Sonora La Calle as a trumpeter and musical director, he started his international career travelling extensively to England , Scotland , France , Australia and New Zealand. He had the opportunity to play in well known venues such as Ronny Scott's in London , the New Morning in Paris , Star City Casino in Sydney, The Crown Casino in Melbourne , and the Entertainment Centre in Auckland to mention just a few.

With his band Sonora la Calle ha had the privilege of sharing the stage with greats of international musicians like Compay Segundo and Eliades Ochoa from Buena Vista Social Club and top American jazz trumpet players, Wynton Marsalis.

He first came to Australia in June 2002 as a Musical Director of the International Cuban show Lady Salsa.

During this tour, he had the pleasure of meeting resident Lissette Villaflores, the love of his life, and as a result of that meeting he decided to make Australia his home.

Currently he is a music teacher in the Department of Contemporary Performance in the Australian Institute of Music, in the category of Afrocuban Ensemble. 

He is also a piano teacher at the Academy of Networking Thinking in Music. In addition to that, he is the musical director of his own band "Armandito y su Trovason".