| Instituto de Música Juan Morel Campos | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Front facade view of the Instituto de Música Juan Morel Campos in Ponce, Puerto Rico | |
| Location | |
00731 | |
| Information | |
| School type | Specialized musical arts school |
| Established | 1947; 78 years ago (1947) |
| Principal | Wilfredo Colon Maldonado (Academic Director)[2] |
| Faculty | 29[3] |
| Grades | 4–12 |
| Enrollment | 300+[2] (2017) |
| Language | Spanish |
| Area | Ponce Historic Zone |
| Website | Instituto de Música Juan Morel Campos |
Instituto de Música Juan Morel Campos (English: Juan Morel Campos Music Institute), formerly known asEscuela Libre de Música de Ponce (English: Ponce Free School of Music), is a musical arts institution inPonce, Puerto Rico. It is an institution of the Ponce Municipal Government.[4][5] Its first director wasLibrado Net Pérez.[6] The building had been the former location of the Ponce regional headquarters of Bomberos de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Firefighters).
The school was founded in 1947 under the municipal administration of MayorAndrés Grillasca Salas as theEscuela Libre de Música de Ponce (Ponce Free School of Music).[7]
The school's first location was at the structure previously occupied by theLiceo de Ponce (Liceo Ponceño), an early 20th-century girls-only school on the northwest corner of Salud and Cristina streets.[8][9]
In 1977 the nameEscuela Libre de Música de Ponce was changed toEscuela Libre de Música Juan Morel Campos, after the Ponce composer and conductor.[10][11] In 1980, the Institute was officially reorganized under mayorJose Guillermo Tormos Vega as an entity of the Municipal Government.[2] Enrollment growth and increased school offerings resulted in the school expanding its headquarters. In 2008, the school expanded again by acquiring a new site on the corner of Calle Cristina and Calle Mayor streets, opposite toTeatro La Perla.[2] The new site included additional classrooms, new administrative offices and an amphitheater.[10] Ponce Municipal decree #40 (2012-2013) renamed the institution toInstituto de Música Juan Morel Campos.[12]
The Institute's first structure, on the northwest corner of Cristina and Salud streets, was built in theArt Deco style. The new building on the southwest corner of Cristina and Mayor streets is a former fire station, which was built in recto-linear fashion followingmodern architectural style. The front yard of the Institute at Calle Cristina contains the onlyolive tree planted in Puerto Rico.[13] The building as originally built was not only a fire station but also the former location of the Ponce regional headquarters of theBomberos de Puerto Rico.
Amosaicmural titled"La Abnegacion" (Selflessness) byRafael Ríos Rey (now [2023] in ruins] commemorates the building's former use as a fire station.[14] The mural was built in 1960.[15]
The Institute has several musical organizations. Among them areCoro de Niños (Children's Choir) andCoro Juvenil (Youth Choir), both in the past directed by music professor María Asunción Ondarra Fombellida,[16] are now under the direction of professor Bianca Alvarado.[17] It also has a Conjunto deTiples (Treble Ensemble), led by professor Héctor Hernández.[18][unreliable source?] There is also a Conjunto de Cuerdas Punteadas (Plucked Strings Ensemble).[19] In addition there are anOrquesta Sinfonica Juvenil (Youth Symphony Orchestra),Banda Juvenil (Youth Band),Conjunto de Metales (Metal Ensemble),Conjunto de Cañas (Reeds Ensemble),Conjunto de Percusión (Percussion Ensemble), andConjunto de Acordeones (Accordion Ensemble).[5]
Its symphony orchestra received a Senate Resolution from the Puerto Rico Senate in 2010.[4]
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