Ileana Reynoso (born Celeste Yleana Reynoso Ramírez on 6 February 1964 in Santo Domingo) is a Dominican merengue singer whose career is written where orchestra singers' careers usually are: in the small print of record sleeves. She was one of the soloist voices of Las Chicas del Can on their 1985 «Karen Records» LP, the lead singer of Las Canelas and of Aníbal Bravo's orchestra, and — decades after those records — a voice the Dominican state itself put on its cultural stages.

Soloist with Las Chicas del Can

Her documented trail opens inside the most famous female orchestra in merengue. She appears on the 1983 «Karen Records» 45 by Belkis Concepción con Las Chicas del Can, and on the group's 1985 LP «Las Chicas Del Can» she is credited «Vocals [Solistas]» — one of the front, soloist voices, alongside Isis Rivera — on a record that holds «Todo Es Para Mí», «El Macho Panzón» and «Chupando Caramelo». It is a featured role in a landmark band, and the sleeve is what proves it.

Front woman in her own right

The same year, 1985, she was the lead vocalist of Las Canelas on «Hot Stuff» («Rico Records»), carrying «Tu Compañera», «De Aquello Ná'» and «Mi Hombre». She then became a featured voice of Aníbal Bravo y su Orquesta: vocals and backing vocals on «Mi Cosa Preciosa» («Kubaney», 1987), and outright lead vocals — credited «Cantante» — on «Aníbal Bravo» («RMM», 1988). Three orchestras, three front-line credits, all before the decade closed.

The long second act

In 2005 she recorded two solo tracks, «Desde Tu Adiós» and «Tiempo Para Amar», for «Producciones Jatnna»'s compilation «¡Que Viva El Merengue!», in a cast that included Miriam Cruz. Then came an unusual second act: from 2009 to 2018 she sang as an official cultural soloist — for the Dominican delegation at «ITB Berlín» with Víctor Taveras's orchestra, at the 2018 Feria del Libro inauguration performing Juan Antonio Alix's «Los mangos bajitos», and at the Noche Larga de los Museos backed by Dioni Fernández's orchestra. In July 2025 she returned to the studio with Miriam Cruz and Eddy Manuel for the EP «Orgullo Merenguero», re-recording the repertoire of 2005 — her own «Desde Tu Adiós» first among it.

Legacy

Ileana Reynoso's legacy is the working singer's legacy: no scandals, no persona, just credits that hold up. Soloist in Las Chicas del Can, lead voice of Las Canelas and of Aníbal Bravo, and twenty years on, the singer her country sent to sing at book fairs and museum nights — and who, in 2025, was still recording beside the biggest names of her generation.