Puerto Rican countertenor Benjamin Marcantoni is an opera singer. He is known for his dramatic connection to the material and a voice of uncommon size and range.
Marcantoni was born Rafael Alfonso Quiñones in San Germán, Puerto Rico. Even untrained, his boy soprano caught the ear of his school's music teacher early on. He went on to study voice as a tenor at Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, and then received his graduate degree from University of Nevada, Reno.
He came to New York City in late 1999 where he is well known in the underground and experimental theater scene. Displeased with his accomplishments as a tenor, Marcantoni officially changed fachs circa 2001. A member of the internationally renowned Great Jones Repertory Company of La MaMa, E.T.C. since 2003, he is currently on the voice faculty at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, San Germán campus. He is a member of the early music ensemble Camerata Vivace, as well as being a part of the music, art, dance, and theater fusion project known as Iluminata. [1]
San Germán is a historic town and municipality located in the Sabana Grande Valley of 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 eighteen barrios plus San Germán Pueblo. It is both a principal city of the San Germán–Cabo Rojo Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Mayagüez–San Germán–Cabo Rojo Combined Statistical Area. San Germán is the second oldest city of Puerto Rico, after San Juan, and its historic downtown is preserved as the San Germán Historic District.
Rafael Hernández Marín was a Puerto Rican songwriter, author of hundreds of popular songs in the Latin American repertoire. He specialized in Cuban styles such as the canción, bolero and guaracha. Among his most famous compositions are "Lamento Borincano", "Capullito de alhelí", "Campanitas de cristal", "Cachita", "Silencio", "El cumbanchero", "Ausencia" and "Perfume de gardenias".
Héctor Luis Acevedo Pérez is a Puerto Rican politician from Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is the son of Héctor N. Acevedo and Toñita Pérez, both public servants. Acevedo has been married to Carmen Roca Saavedra since 1972, with whom he has three children.
Antonio Paoli was a Puerto Rican tenor. At the height of his fame, he was known as "The King of Tenors and The Tenor of Kings." He is considered to be the first Puerto Rican to reach international fame in the musical arts. Paoli has been recognized as "one of the most outstanding opera singers of all time," and as one who had "one of the most lyric and powerful voices...superior even to his contemporary rival, Enrico Caruso."
José Vega Santana, known by his stage name "Remi" is a singer and clown from Puerto Rico. His career as a clown, spanning over 35 years, began with the group "Los Dulces Payasos" after developing the character of Remi while a student at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. He's one of the most famed clowns in Puerto Rico.
Luciano Quiñones Lugo, is a pianist and a composer of Modern Puerto Rican Danzas.
Horacio Olivo was a Puerto Rican actor, comedian, and television/radio personality, as well as a classically trained singer.
Roberto Sierra is a Puerto Rican composer of contemporary classical music.
Erick Kolthoff-Caraballo is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.
Jaime Fonalledas is the President and CEO of Empresas Fonalledas Inc., which owns Plaza Las Américas, the largest shopping mall in the Caribbean and one of the top retail and entertainment venues in the world. Empresas Fonalledas Inc., also has holdings in dairy cattle operations, milk processing plants, non-dairy food industries, plastics manufacturing, real estate ventures, and banking operations. Employing more than 9,000 people in total, Empresas Fonalledas companies include Plaza del Caribe, Tres Monjitas, Vaqueria Tres Monjitas, Ganaderia Tres Monjitas, Baristas del Caribe -local operators of Starbucks Puerto Rico- and franchise Soft & Creamy.
Casa Paoli is a historic house and biographical museum in barrio Cuarto, Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the Ponce Historic Zone. The house is significant as the birthplace of Antonio Paoli (1871–1946), a tenor who was the "first Puerto Rican to reach international recognition in the performing arts" and "one of the most outstanding opera singers of all times". The house was the childhood home of the artist and he was introduced to art and opera at this house during his formative years. In 1987, the house was turned into a museum to honor the career of Antonio Paoli. The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Raquel Brailowsky-Cabrera was a Paraguayan-born Puerto Rican social anthropologist and Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, San Germán Campus.
Isidro A. Negrón Irizarry is a Puerto Rican politician and former mayor of San Germán, the second oldest city in Puerto Rico.
Dr. Arturo Morales Carrión was a historian, educator, public servant and humanist as Gov. Rafael Hernández Colón eulogized him, "one of the principal figures" in the history of Puerto Rico, after having served under Gov. Luis Muñoz Marín as Under Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, under President John F. Kennedy as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, as special assistant to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States and as President of the University of Puerto Rico (1973-1977).
Carlos M. "Charlie" Hernández López is a Puerto Rican politician affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). He was member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from January, 2001 until December, 2016. From 2001 to 2012 he represented District 19. In 2012, he was reelected, this time as a Representative At-large until 2016.
Carlos D. López Bonilla is a Puerto Rican politician and the current mayor of Rincón, Puerto Rico. López is affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and has served as mayor since 2001. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico at San Germán.
Jonathan Marcantoni is an American novelist, screenwriter and editor based out of San Antonio, Texas. He is a co-founder and Managing Editor in Chief of Aignos, an independent, royalty publisher that seeks out experimental and innovative fiction and nonfiction.
Guillermo Segundo Venegas Lloveras was a Puerto Rican songwriter. After success in his youth with popular boleros, waltzes, tangos, marches, and danzas, in later life he returned to classical music. A two-hour television program was produced by Puerto Rico Lyric Theatre director Jesús Quiñones Ledesma. After his death the rights to his songs were disputed.
Zeta Phi Beta Fraternity (ΖΦΒ) of Puerto Rico is a nonprofit fraternal organization that has served the Puerto Rican and Dominican Republic communities for more than 50 years. The group was founded on November 21, 1957 at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez campus by 7 young students from diverse backgrounds. Today, the fraternity has over 3,000 members and 11 chapters at university level, including 2 chapters in the Dominican Republic.