Gloria González (born April 6, 1944) is a Puerto Rican composer with an extensive repertoire of pop and salsa songs.

Early years and education

Gloria González Pérez was born on April 6 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. She is the only daughter of Jorge González and Blanca Pérez, both from the town of

Arecibo, Puerto Rico Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, the ...

. She attended elementary school at Manuel Padre Rufo School in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Her secondary studies were done at República Del Perú Jr. High, also in Santurce. In 1958, she moved with her father to New York City, where she attended P.S. 71 in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

.Biography, Photos, Lyrics (SalsaClasica.com)
/ref> Gloria later returned to Puerto Rico and got married. In 1967, she decided to continue her studies and graduated from Ramírez College as a

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...

secretary.

Career

In 1970, she started working with the Justice Department, but due to a back injury, she retired in 1983. During this period, González became interested in

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

and decided to study at the Music Conservatory; entirely dedicating herself to the composition of musical themes. She has written well over 300 songs, within the

Salsa music Salsa music is a style of Latin American music. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most songs considered as salsa are primarily based on son montun ...

genre. Among the artists who have interpreted of her romantic line of songs are Marco Antonio Muñiz, Gilberto Santa Rosa,

El Gran Combo El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, commonly known as El Gran Combo, is a Puerto Rican salsa orchestra based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2012, it was often considered Puerto Rico's most successful musical group. The ...

Tony Vega Tony Vega Cesar, known professionally as Tony Vega (born July 13, 1957) is a Puerto Rican salsa singer. Early years Vega was born in the town of Salinas, Puerto Rico, where he received his primary education. He was born into a family of musi ...

, Frankie Ruiz,

Bobby Valentín Roberto "Bobby" Valentín (born June 9, 1941), is a musician and salsa bandleader. He is known as "El Rey del Bajo" (King of the Bass). Early years Valentín was born in Orocovis, Puerto Rico. He was taught by his father to play the guitar at ...

, Andy Montañez,

Carmita Jiménez Carmita Jiménez (August 3, 1939 – August 10, 2003) was a Puerto Rican singer who was considered a diva in Puerto Rico. She was born in San Lorenzo. Carmita Jiménez started her singing career at the young age of six, on the radio show na ...

, Nano Cabrera, Los Hispanos, and Cheo Feliciano. One of her most famous songs, "Así Es Mi Tierra", was performed by the septet Sol y Canto and accompanied by the

Springfield Symphony Orchestra The Springfield Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Springfield, Massachusetts. It performs at Symphony Hall, a part of the Springfield Municipal Group. The Springfield Symphony (SSO) got its start when the conductor of the ...

on February 28, 2004.

Awards and recognition

Gloria González has received awards and recognitions from institutions such as the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture (11/28/1986).Gloria González
/ref> Broadway Awards (1988), Paoli Award, awards from the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Carolina Carolina may refer to: Geography * The Carolinas, the U.S. states of North and South Carolina ** North Carolina, a U.S. state ** South Carolina, a U.S. state * Province of Carolina, a British province until 1712 * Carolina, Alabama, a town in ...

and Arecibo (4/8/2002), as well as recognitions in theaters, TV shows in Puerto Rico,

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In June 1991, she was honored with the dedication of the annually National Day of Salsa,Día Nacional del la Salsa - Photo
/ref> currently celebrated on the third Sunday in the month of March in Puerto Rico.

was also honored that day. In 2007, she was honored at the "Asociación Borinqueña" of Central Florida, in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

for her career as a composer.

Personal life

González has four children from two marriages; Catherine Ivonne and María de los Ángeles (adopted) from her first, and Carlos Javier with her second husband, Juan Rodríguez. In 2004, she moved to Central

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where she currently lives.

References

External links