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 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 ...

. The band is the oldest continuously-performing band in the Caribbean and the oldest music group in Puerto Rico. It has performed its open-air concerts for over 125 years. The current director is Juan García Germaín. It has 42 members between 25 and 83 years old. It operates within the jurisdiction of the ''Oficina de Desarrollo Cultural'' (English: Office of Cultural Development) of the autonomous municipality of Ponce. Its headquarters are located at the ''Centro Integrado para el Fortalecimiento de las Artes Musicales'', next to

Teatro La Perla Teatro La Perla is a historic theater in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Inaugurated in 1864, it is the second oldest theater of its kind in Puerto Rico, but "the largest and most historic in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean." The theater was name ...

History

The history of the Ponce Municipal Band dates to its predecessor, the Ponce Firefighters' Band, a band that was already operational in 1859. It was founded in September, 1883, by

Juan Morel Campos Juan Morel Campos (16 May 1857 – 12 May 1896), sometimes erroneously spelled ''Juan Morell Campos'', was a Puerto Rican composer, considered by many to be responsible for taking the genre of danza to its highest level. He composed over ...

. In 1953, the Band reorganized and was moved from an organization under the Ponce Firefighters Corps to an organization under the Ponce Municipal Government. The directors of the band after its founder have been Domingo Cruz (Cocolia), Julio Alvarado, Emilio Alvarado, Eduardo Cuevas, Tomás Clavel, and Eustaquio Pujals. The current director is Juan B. García Germaín. Band master Julio Alvarado was the director of the band at the time of its 1953 reorganization. Gregorio Ledesma was the band conductor in 1859. In late 2010, the Ponce Municipal Government provided the Band its own location for its

rehearsal A rehearsal is an activity in the performing arts that occurs as preparation for a performance in music, theatre, dance and related arts, such as opera, musical theatre and film production. It is undertaken as a form of practising, to ensure t ...

s. The new location is next to the legendary

at a structure named ''Centro Integrado para el Fortalecimiento de las Artes Musicales'' (Integrated Center for the Development of the Musical Arts).

Concerts

Former location of the Ponce Municipal Library next to Teatro La Perla in Barrio Tercero, Ponce, Puerto Rico (DSC01935A)

The Band originally celebrated its concerts from a since-removed second floor stage at

Parque de Bombas The Parque de Bombas ( en, firehouse) is a historic former fire station in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is one of Puerto Rico's most notable buildings, with some considering it "by far the most easily recognized landmark in the Island." It is locate ...

. It then performed from Paseo Antonio Arias (formerly, Paseo Amor), and has also performed from Concha Acústica de Ponce and

Paseo Tablado La Guancha Paseo Tablado La Guancha (English: ''La Guancha Boardwalk'') is a boardwalk in the La Guancha sector of the Playa barrio in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, facing the Caribbean Sea. It was built under the mayoral administration of Rafael Cord ...

. It also performed from the Dora Colón Clavell Urban Park for some time, and it is currently performing from a removable stage at front of the

Ponce City Hall The Ponce City Hall ( es, Casa Alcaldía de Ponce) is a historic city hall in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is located it the center of the city, on Calle Degetau, across from Plaza Degetau in the Ponce Historic Zone. The building serves as the seat ...

. Concerts are every Sunday evening. In September, 2011, the Band adopted a new venue philosophy called ''Retretas en la Comunidad'', whereby it started to bring its stage to the various communities of Ponce.

Directors and their terms

As ''"Banda del Benemérito Cuerpo de Bomberos de Ponce":'' *

(1883-1886)–(1893-1896) * Eduardo Cuevas (1896? - 1900?) * Domingo Cruz ("Cocolia") (ca.1900–1916) * Eustaquio Pujals (ca. 1916-1924) * Tomás Clavell (ca. 1924 - 1928) As ''"Banda Municipal de Ponce":'' * Julio Alvarado (1929) *

Julio Alvarado Tricoche Julio Alvarado Tricoche (1886–1970) was a Puerto Rican flutist, composer, and director of the Banda Municipal de Ponce for seventeen years. Early years Julio Alvarado Tricoche was born on 18 February 1886 in Ponce, Puerto Rico.Luis Osvaldo Pino Valdivieso Luis Osvaldo Pino Valdivieso (1933–2003) was a Puerto Rican bombard player and director of the Banda Municipal de Ponce for twenty-three years. Early years Luis Osvaldo Pino Valdivieso was born on 14 November 1933 in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Tr ...

(1978-2001) * Jorge Figueroa (2001 - 2003?) *

Rubén Colón Tarrats Rubén Colón Tarrats (b. 1940) is a Puerto Rican composer, clarinet player and band director from Ponce, Puerto Rico. He also conducted the Banda Municipal de Ponce for ten years. He received his music training at Escuela Libre de Música de ...

(2003 - 2013) * Juan García Germaín - (2014 - ''Incumbent.'')

Current members

As of March 2011, the Ponce Municipal Band had 42 members as follows:''"La Retreta: Banda Municipal de Ponce"'', brochure. Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Office of Cultural Development. March 2010. * Flute **Carlos Torres, Marines Aviles, Jose Rentas * Clarinet **Ada I. Rodriguez, Ricardo Velazquez, Julio Alvarado, Ramon Galindo, Juan Garcia, Estrella Cruz, Feliz Varela, Hector Lopez de Victoria, Cynthia Rodriguez, Nilda Cruz, Guillermo Silvagnoli, Edanette Tirado *

Saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

**Leslie Pagan, Moises Ortiz, Jorge L. Torres, Jose P. Santiago, Jose R. Santiago * Bassoon **Jesus Acevedo *

Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

**Jose M. Ruiz, Jose Quiñones, Victor Caquias, Edgardo Ruiz, Elder Arroyo, Victor Rodriguez *

Horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

**Hector I. Maldonado, Felipe Gonzalez, Rohel Ortiz, Orlando Zayas *

Trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

**David Perez, Israel Negron, Irving Gonzalez *

Euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" o ...

**Angel Santos, Lester Perez Cancel *

Tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

**Lester Perez Flores, Arnaldo Tarrio *

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

**Dimas Rodriguez, Luis M. Valentin, Sergio Gonzalez, Jose Alvarado

References

External links

Luciano Quiñones Photo Album
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponce Municipal Band Puerto Rican musical groups Musical groups from Ponce, Puerto Rico 1883 establishments in Puerto Rico