Monserrate Ferrer Otero, sometimes called Monsita Ferrer (January 7, 1885 - December 18, 1966) was a Puerto Rican composer and pianist. Born in San Juan, Ferrer began piano lessons early in life with Rosa Sicardó and Ana Otero, later working with

Jesús María Sanromá Jesús María Sanromá (November 7, 1902 – October 12, 1984) was a Puerto Rican pianist who is one of the 20th century's most accomplished and important pianists. In 1932 he gave the first North American performance of Maurice Ravel's Concert ...

. With Julio Carlos de Arteaga she studied composition; later, in New York, she took lessons in counterpoint with

Arístides Chavier Arévalo Arístides Chavier Arévalo (3 September 1867 –1942) was a Puerto Rican pianist, modernism composer, musicologist and music author from Ponce, Puerto Rico. Early years and schooling Chavier Arévalo was born in Ponce on 3 September 1867. In ...

and in composition with Gonzalo Núñez Rivera. One of Puerto Rico's first women composers, in 1956 she was among the musicians selected by the Puerto Rican government as advisors on the creation of a national conservator of music. Much of Ferrer's music remains unpublished. Her output consists largely of piano and chamber music, with some sacred and vocal pieces as well. Among her compositions are many ''

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 dan ...

''s, a form which she sought to elevate out of popular culture; she also advocated for the standardization of musical notation within the genre. Her ''danza Ensueño de Gloria'' of 1913 received a prize from the Sociedad de Escritores y Artistas de Ponce. She died on December 18, 1966, in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

, and was buried at the

Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery __NOTOC__ The Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery is a colonial-era cemetery located in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the final resting place of many of Puerto Rico's most prominent natives and residents. Construction began in 1863 under ...

in Old San Juan.

References

1885 births 1966 deaths 20th-century composers 20th-century women composers 20th-century pianists 20th-century Puerto Rican musicians Burials at Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery Puerto Rican composers Puerto Rican women composers Puerto Rican pianists Puerto Rican women pianists Musicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico 20th-century women pianists {{PuertoRico-bio-stub