Julio Alvarado Tricoche (1886–1970) was a Puerto Rican

flutist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with Reed (instrument), reeds, a fl ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

of the

Banda Municipal de Ponce The Ponce Municipal Band (Spanish: ''Banda Municipal de Ponce''), also known as ''Centenaria Banda Municipal de Ponce'', is the band of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The band is the oldest continuously-performing band in the Caribbean ...

for seventeen years.

Early years

Julio Alvarado Tricoche was born on 18 February 1886 in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

.''¿Quien es Don Julio Alvarado Tricoche?''
Escuela Julio Alvarado Tricoche. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2016. Accessed 3 May 2016. His father was

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ind ...

and his mother was Puerto Rican.''Don Julio Alvarado.''
Luciano Quinones. 2016. Accessed 3 May 2016. Alvarado Tricoche was the first male baby born at the just-built Hospital Valentín Tricoche. As a young man he worked as a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

and a

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

salesperson before he dedicated the rest of his life to music.

Training

In 1903 he started playing the guitar with music professor Clemente Acosta. He studied music theory and flute with Jesús R. Ramos Antonini and for his advanced music education Alvarado Tricoche was a student of Domingo Cruz (Cocolía) and Juan Ríos Ovalle.

Music career

Alvarado Tricoche started in the world of music from very young. He first performed with the

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

. In 1912, Domingo Cruz "Cocolía", then director of the

Ponce Municipal Band The Ponce Municipal Band (Spanish: ''Banda Municipal de Ponce''), also known as ''Centenaria Banda Municipal de Ponce'', is the band of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The band is the oldest continuously-performing band in the Caribbean ...

contracted Julio Alvarado as

and conductor. Alvarado Tricoche initiated his work as a composer in 1914, creating

danza Danza is a musical genre that originated in Ponce, a city in southern Puerto Rico. It is a popular turn-of-the-twentieth-century ballroom dance genre slightly similar to the waltz. Both the danza and its cousin the contradanza are sequence danc ...

s, valses, pasodobles,

pasillo Pasillo ( en, little step, hallway or aisle) is a Colombian, genre of music extremely popular in the territories that composed the 19th century Viceroyalty of New Granada: Born in the Colombian Andes during the independence wars, it spread to oth ...

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

s and

plena Plena is a genre of music and dance native to Puerto Rico. Origins The plena genre originated in Barrio San Antón, Ponce, Puerto Rico, around 1900. It was influenced by the bomba style of music. Originally, sung texts were not associated wit ...

s. Among his favorite themes was love and womanhood. His romantic melodies continue to be played in modern Puerto Rico. Among his best known compositions are ''Ausencia'' (1920), ''Una Noche de Algodon'' (1926), ''Ambición'' (1938), ''Lejos de ti'' (1937) and ''Cenizas'' (1942).''Biblioteca Escuela Elemental Julio Alvarado Tricoche.''
Escuela Elemental Julio Alvarado Tricoche. 2016. Accessed 3 May 2016. In 1920, Alvarado Tricoche became director of the Ponce School Band and also joined the Ponce Symphony Orchestra whose conductor was Arturo Pasarell. Concurrent with his duties directing two bands (the municipal and school bands) and as a member of the Symphony Orchestra, he also participated in various local for-profit bands and orchestras working, among them, with Mingo and his Whoopee Kids band as an

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

, and

. From 1937 to 1955, he directed the Orchestra at the Ponce Casino and was also a professor of music theory (''solfeo'') at the Escuela Libre de Música de Ponce, then headquartered at Salud and Cristina streets. In 1953 he became director of the

, which he directed until his death.

Death, legacy and honors

Alvarado Tricoche directed the Ponce Municipal Band from 1953 until his death (24 September 1970). He was 84 years old. Under his direction, the Band achieved much recognition and received many accolades, both in Puerto Rico as well as internationally. In Ponce a school was named after him. He is also recognized at the Ponce Tricentennial Park for his contributions to music.

Personal life

Alvarado Tricoche married Georgina Santos and they had six children: Emilio, Georgina, Luisa Angélica, Julio, Antonia and

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

.'' ¿Quien es Don Julio Alvarado Tricoche?''
Escuela Julio Alvarado Tricoche. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2016. Accessed 3 May 2016.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarado Tricoche, Julio 1886 births 1970 deaths Musicians from Ponce Puerto Rican male composers Puerto Rican composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians