José Enrique Pedreira was a Puerto Rican

Puerto Rican people

A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 noted for danzas

Music of Puerto Rico

The music of Puerto Rico has been influenced by the Spanish, African, Taíno Indians, France, and the United States, and has become very popular across the Caribbean and across the globe...

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Early years

Pedreira was born in San Juan

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, into a family that belonged to San Juan's "High Society". The family sent him to the best private schools on the island at the time and at a young age had him take private music lessons. In 1922, he graduated from high school and was sent to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, by his parents, to continue his musical education. There, he enrolled in the music school of Segismundo Stojowski where he learned piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 and music composition. It was there that he met a fellow student who was to become his wife, Alicia Hutchinson.

Musical career

In 1932, Pedreira returned to Puerto Rico with his wife and established the Pedreira Academy of Music in San Juan. He gave piano lessons while she (a violinist) gave violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 lessons. During his spare time he composed music and danzas for piano, violin and cello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

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Legacy

José Enrique Pedreira died on January 6, 1959 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1985, Pedreira was posthumously inducted into the Danza Composers Hall of Fame located in the town of San German, Puerto Rico

San Germán, Puerto Rico

San Germán is a municipality located in the southwestern region of Puerto Rico, south of Mayagüez and Maricao; north of Lajas; east of Hormigueros and Cabo Rojo; and west of Sabana Grande. San Germán is spread over 18 wards and San Germán Pueblo...

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Selected compositions

• Canción de cuna para un infante moribundo (Lullaby for a Dying Child) for cello (or viola) and piano (1954)
• Caricias (Your Tender Touch)
• Colibri
• Concerto in D minor for piano and orchestra
• Elegía India, Poema y Souvenir
• El Jardín de piedra (Garden of Rock), Ballet; libretto by Lotti Tischer
• Encanto
• Enseuño de Marta (Martha's Dream), Danza for piano (1956)
• Nocturne melancholique for piano (1950)
• No podras olvidarme, Canción Bolero for voice and piano (1947)
• Plenitude, Nocturne for piano (1948)
• Ritmo, Zapateado for piano (1956)
• Siempre (Always), Danza for piano (1960); dedicated to Juan Morel Campos
  Juan Morel Campos
  Juan Morel Campos , 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.-Early years:...
  
  
• Sonata in B minor for piano
• Súplica, Danza for piano (1949)
• Tus caricias, Danza for piano (1948)
• Vals en la major (Waltz in A major) for piano (1949)
• Valses de Concierto (Concert Waltzes)

Awards and recognitions

Pedreira received many awards and recognitions during his lifetime. Some of the institutions that honored him were:

• The University of Puerto Rico
  University of Puerto Rico
  The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
  
  
• The Puerto Rican Athenaeum
• The Juilliard School of Music
  Juilliard School
  The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
  
  
• The Women's Civic Club of San Juan

External Reference

• Siempre by José Enrique Pedreira