| Ponce Municipal Band | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Genres | danza, Classical |
| Occupations | Band |
| Years active | 1883-present |
| Members | |
|
Music Director Juan Morel Campos Past Director Domingo Cruz "Cocolia" |
|
| Past members | |
| Other past directors Julio Alvarado Emilio Alvarado Eduardo Cuevas Tomás Clavel Eustaquio Pujols |
|
The Ponce Municipal Band is the band of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The band is the oldest continuously-performing band in the Caribbean.[1] It has performed its open-air concerts for over 125 years. The current director is Rubén Colón Tarrats. It has 42 members between 25 and 83 years old.[2] It operates within the jurisdiction of the Oficina de Desarrollo Cultural (English: Office of Cultural Development) of the autonomus municipality of Ponce.[3]
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The history of the Ponce Municipal Band dates to its predecessor, the Ponce Firefighters' Band.[4] It was founded in September, 1883,[5] by Juan Morel Campos.[6] In 1953, the Band reorganized and was moved from an organization under the Ponce Firefighters Corps to an organization under the Ponce Municipal Government.[7] The directors of the band after its founder have been Domingo Cruz (Cocolia), Julio Alvarado, Emilio Alvarado, Eduardo Cuevas, Tomás Clavel, and Eustaquio Pujols. The current director is Rubén Colón Tarrats.[8] Master Julio Alvarado was the director of the band at the time of its 1953 reorganization.[9] Gregorio Ledesma was the band conductor in 1859.[10]
In late 2010, the Ponce Municipal Government provided the Band its own location for its rehearsals.[11] The new location is next to the legendary Teatro La Perla at a structure named Centro Integrado para el Fortalecimiento de las Artes Musicales (Integrated Center for the Development of the Musical Arts).
The Band originally celebrated its concerts from a since-removed second floor stage at Parque de Bombas. It was then moved to the Ponce Acoustic Shell, and later to Paseo Tablado La Guancha, where it performed for a while. It also performed from the Dora Colón Clavell Urban Park[12] for some time, and it is currently performing from a removable stage at front of the Ponce City Hall.[13] 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.[14]
As of March 2011, the Ponce Municipal Band had 42 members as follows[16]: