Librado Net Pérez (1895-1964) was a Puerto Rican musician, educator and painter from

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

. He was the first director of the Escuela Libre de Música de Ponce, considered the best of Puerto Rico's free Music Schools at the time. He directed the school from the early 1950s and continuing until just prior to his death in 1964.

Early years

Librado Net was born in

, on 17 August 1895.Librado Net: Del pentagrama al pincel. By Lizette Cabrera Salcedo. May 1998. Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico.
His parents were Ramón Net Santiago and Sofía Pérez Torres. He was introduced to music by his mother. He was a student of Arístides Chavier, Domingo Cruz "Cocolia" and Castro Pérez. In the art of painting, he was a student of

Miguel Pou Miguel Pou Becerra (24 August 1880 – 6 May 1968) was a Puerto Rican oil canvas painter, draftsman, and art professor. Together with José Campeche and Francisco Oller, he has been called "one of Puerto Rico's greatest masters." He was an ...

, and among his own painting students was Epifanio Irizarry. In architecture he studied with Alfredo Wiechers, who taught him to work with watercolors and tapestry. From a very young age, he showed dexterity in leadership and talent in orchestral organization and in the interpretation of musical works via the flute, and the violin. In the 1920s, he lived in the United States, where he studied music with Jean Bedetti. He married sculptor Eugene Batiste, and had a son, Roberto. Librado Net was the first director of the Escuela Libre de Música de Ponce (Ponce Free School of Music), starting in the 1950s and continued as such until just prior to his death. He was better known for his musical skills than his other artistic interests.

Music school director

Librado Net worked with

Ernesto Ramos Antonini Ernesto Ramos Antonini (April 24, 1898 – January 9, 1963) was the President of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico and co-founder of the Partido Popular Democrático de Puerto Rico (Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico). Early yea ...

from the planning to the implementation phases of Puerto Rico's three free schools of music in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

, Ponce, and Mayaguez. The schools were inaugurated on 1 December 1946. Thanks to the work of Net, it is said that "the Ponce Free School of Music was the most outstanding." He became the first director of the Instituto de Música Juan Morel Campos. The school was also the teaching venue of Tomás Clavel, Julio Alvarado, Emilio Alvarado, Rafael Franco, Eduardo Pérez Jusino, Bernardo Gaztambide, Luis Marguerie and Edwin Ramos Torres.

Works

Net's rise to fame came with his work on tapestry under Alfredo Wiechers. He created ''Erupción del Monte Vesubio (1911)'', ''Detalle escultórico del Arco del Triunfo (1911)'' and ''La musa del crepúsculo (1936)''. The first are in the permanent collection of the Casa Wiechers, property of the ''

Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña The ''Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña'' (), or ICP for short, is an institution of the Government of Puerto Rico responsible for the establishment of the cultural policies required in order to study, preserve, promote, enrich, and diffuse ...

''. His artistic style is pre-Raphaelite and Raphaelite. From his years in New York, he created ''Luna sobre la costa-Staten Island (1922)'', ''Clove Lake-Staten Island (1925)'', ''Dibujo de edificios en Nueva York'', and ''Paisaje en Nueva York'', among others. Upon his return to Puerto Rico, he recorded street scenes in Ponce, including ''Puente sobre el Río Inabón en la finca La Concordia (1939)'', ''Parque de Bombas (1950)'', ''Calle León (1960)'', ''Teatro La Perla (1960)'', and ''Playa de Ponce cerca del Yacht Club (1964)''.

Last years and death

Librado Net died in Ponce on 2 November 1964.

Legacy

* In Ponce there is a school in the community of San Antonio that bears his name. * He is recognized at the Ponce Tricentennial Park for his contributions to music and painting. * There is also a street named after him in the Pastillo de Canas community in barrio Canas, Ponce. * There is a garden at the Instituto de Musica Juan Morel Campos named after Net.''Ponce celebra Semana de la Danza.''
Noticias y Actividades relacionadas con la Danza, 1997. Retrieved 1 April 2014.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* El Mundo, 26 December 1953, p. 11. * ''Homenaje póstumo a Don Librado Net Pérez''. El Mundo, 28 January 1967, p. 43. * El Mundo, 12 August 1953, p. 13. * El Mundo, 22 May 1959, p. 34. ''Recibe Homenaje, Librado Net se jubila Escuela Música Ponce.'' * El Mundo, 5 March 1967, p. 17.
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Page 10. Accessed 16 January 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Net, Librado 1895 births 1964 deaths Educators from Ponce, Puerto Rico American music educators Musicians from Ponce Painters from Ponce 20th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American male artists