Virgilio Cruz
Puerto Rican
BiographyVirgilio Cruz, master cuatro player and composer of décimas (an old poetic form with ten lines of eight syllables each) first learned traditional music from trovadores (folk poetry improvisors) and from his father who played and built cuatros, the 10-stringed guitar-like instrument. After moving to Hartford Virgilio established a community traditional music school and orchestra, La Primera Orquesta de Cuatros. Through the school many local Puerto Ricans became good singers, cuatro, guiro and guitar players as well as trovadores. Like the school, Canto Isleño was formed by senior members of the Orquesta to fill a void in the cultural life of Hartford's largest ethnic group and to expand appreciation for traditional music and poetry. Canto Isleño performed Puerto Rican música jíbara, the songs and poetry of the island's mountain farmers. Their repertoire included folk forms such as Puerto Rican seises and aguinaldos, along with joropas, marumbas, and semi-classical mazurcas, valses criollas and danzas. In 1998 Virgilio moved back to Puerto Rico, a long-time dream of his. He is producing a book of décimas based on the vernacular speech of Puerto Rican campesinos.
A master cuatrista and teacher, Virgilio is also a poet, accomplished in composing the words of decimas, seises, and aguinaldos (specialized poetic forms in Spanish) which he sets to music. These become both folk songs and popular songs which he sings himself or arranges for Canto Isleño. He was First Prize Winner as Composer, at the Segundo Festival de la Voz y la Cancion, San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico and Semi-Finalist Composer at the XI Festival de la Cancion de la Nueva York in the late 1980s. Virgilio is an experienced performer who can explain as well as perform music in both English and Spanish. The concept of a roving singer/songwriter skilled at extemporaneous song composition is so much a part of Puerto Rican folk music. Virgilio and others developed and presented several Concurso de Trovadores de Nueva Inglaterra" events, traditional competitions in jibaro poetry creation, in Hartford, with support from the national Endowment for the Arts.
Virgilio served on the advisory committee for the Connecticut Heritage Arts Program, and CCHAP served as mentor to La Primera Orquesta de Cuatros, advising on grantwriting, organizational development, and marketing/promotion, through a Connecticut Commission on the Arts program. Canto Isleño performed at Charter Oak Cultural Center during the first traditional arts performers series organized by CCHAP in 1995-1996, and was selected for the Connecticut Commission on the Arts Touring Roster. In 1992, the Orquesta was a participant in the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) Newcomers Project, a technical assistance program for artists from recently arrived communities. In 1995, Virgilio was selected as a mentor/teacher as part of the New England Foundation for the Arts Apprenticeship Program.
“I am a musician and poet in the folk traditions of Puerto Rico. I play the cuatro and compose both popular and folk songs. I also write folk poetry in the vernacular of Puerto Rican campesinos as well as Spanish language poetry. My introduction to music came from my father, a luthier who also played cuatro. Later I took lessons in music theory and practice from private instructors and at the Institute for Culture in San Juan where I joined their orquesta. After moving to Hartford in 1986 I formed the performing group Canto Isleño. Several community members asked me to teach cuatro which I began to do, later adding classes in guitar and folk singing. This has developed into regular evening classes and the establishment of La Primera Orquesta de Cuatros de Hartford.
I have been teaching cuatro, guitar, and folk music to a variety of age groups for several years. Primarily my teaching experience has been with adults in both a one-on-one lesson format and in a classroom setting. The Institute for Culture in San Juan, where I received musical training, uses a teaching method I feel is very effective: having experienced students as part of a class including less experienced ones, helping to pass on their knowledge and motivation directly to the new students. I am collaborating with a member of my folk singing class, a trained opera singer, on a teaching guide for Puerto Rican folk songs - El Trovador Boricua. Teachers will have this as a resource on the words and written music of the songs so they can use it in the classroom with a trained musician.
In the classroom the artist is both performer and teacher, showing the beauty and quality of performance and also explaining the mechanics of the music - for music, these are the two most important elements and they are necessarily intertwined. The artist can bring excitement to the classroom, he is an example of the art form at work. The artist can inspire others, and then must work with them to develop their skills. A residency artist brings specific knowledge and skills, whereas the teacher knows the students and can help the artist interact with them. The teacher may also have a general knowledge of music, the big picture, and will help incorporate the special knowledge of the artist into an effective teaching plan.
A master cuatrista and teacher, Virgilio is also a poet, accomplished in composing the words of decimas, seises, and aguinaldos (specialized poetic forms in Spanish) which he sets to music. These become both folk songs and popular songs which he sings himself or arranges for Canto Isleño. He was First Prize Winner as Composer, at the Segundo Festival de la Voz y la Cancion, San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico and Semi-Finalist Composer at the XI Festival de la Cancion de la Nueva York in the late 1980s. Virgilio is an experienced performer who can explain as well as perform music in both English and Spanish. The concept of a roving singer/songwriter skilled at extemporaneous song composition is so much a part of Puerto Rican folk music. Virgilio and others developed and presented several Concurso de Trovadores de Nueva Inglaterra" events, traditional competitions in jibaro poetry creation, in Hartford, with support from the national Endowment for the Arts.
Virgilio served on the advisory committee for the Connecticut Heritage Arts Program, and CCHAP served as mentor to La Primera Orquesta de Cuatros, advising on grantwriting, organizational development, and marketing/promotion, through a Connecticut Commission on the Arts program. Canto Isleño performed at Charter Oak Cultural Center during the first traditional arts performers series organized by CCHAP in 1995-1996, and was selected for the Connecticut Commission on the Arts Touring Roster. In 1992, the Orquesta was a participant in the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) Newcomers Project, a technical assistance program for artists from recently arrived communities. In 1995, Virgilio was selected as a mentor/teacher as part of the New England Foundation for the Arts Apprenticeship Program.
“I am a musician and poet in the folk traditions of Puerto Rico. I play the cuatro and compose both popular and folk songs. I also write folk poetry in the vernacular of Puerto Rican campesinos as well as Spanish language poetry. My introduction to music came from my father, a luthier who also played cuatro. Later I took lessons in music theory and practice from private instructors and at the Institute for Culture in San Juan where I joined their orquesta. After moving to Hartford in 1986 I formed the performing group Canto Isleño. Several community members asked me to teach cuatro which I began to do, later adding classes in guitar and folk singing. This has developed into regular evening classes and the establishment of La Primera Orquesta de Cuatros de Hartford.
I have been teaching cuatro, guitar, and folk music to a variety of age groups for several years. Primarily my teaching experience has been with adults in both a one-on-one lesson format and in a classroom setting. The Institute for Culture in San Juan, where I received musical training, uses a teaching method I feel is very effective: having experienced students as part of a class including less experienced ones, helping to pass on their knowledge and motivation directly to the new students. I am collaborating with a member of my folk singing class, a trained opera singer, on a teaching guide for Puerto Rican folk songs - El Trovador Boricua. Teachers will have this as a resource on the words and written music of the songs so they can use it in the classroom with a trained musician.
In the classroom the artist is both performer and teacher, showing the beauty and quality of performance and also explaining the mechanics of the music - for music, these are the two most important elements and they are necessarily intertwined. The artist can bring excitement to the classroom, he is an example of the art form at work. The artist can inspire others, and then must work with them to develop their skills. A residency artist brings specific knowledge and skills, whereas the teacher knows the students and can help the artist interact with them. The teacher may also have a general knowledge of music, the big picture, and will help incorporate the special knowledge of the artist into an effective teaching plan.
Person TypeIndividual
