La Rodalla has made Humacao the capital of the “Cuatro” (The cuatro is any of several Latin American instruments of the guitar or lute families. Many cuatros are smaller than a guitar. Cuatro means four in Spanish, although current instruments may have more than four strings.) I am sure you have heard about La Rondalla of Humacao but getting to know its founder and director, Jorge Luis Camacho is another story.  His passion for music and the kids are contagious.  When he talks about their achievements and success his chest swells with pride and satisfaction.  And he have all the reasons to be proud and satisfied. The Humacao Rondalla has 35 big years of impressive success stories. “We will celebrate the 35-year anniversary with a great concert with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra on

Saturday, October 26 at the Humacao Center of Fine Arts in the Hall that bears our name. And on November 2 at the prestigious Harris Theater at the Millennium Park in Chicago with a Chicago Symphony Orchestra,” told us Jorge
Luis Camacho with obvious pride.  The delegation of 45 Rondallistas that go to Chicago are residents of Humacao, Yabucoa, Vieques, Las Piedras, Fajardo, Gurabo, Caguas, San Juan, Peñuelas, San Lorenzo, Naguabo, Juncos and Toa Alta. “In these 35 years we have performed more than 100 international concerts on all continents. Our latest trips have been to Turkey, Peru, Cuba, Colombia and the Dominican Republic”, added Camacho. It is that their trajectory is an impressive one. In these 35 years they have also played, in  20 occasions, with the PR Symphony Directed by Maestro Roselín Pabón, in 2 occasions with the Puerto Rico Philharmonic Orchestra, 1 occasion with the Chamber Orchestra Conducted by Helen González and 2 with the Panamerican Symphony Orchestra at the Carnegie Hall in New York, and now in November in Chicago. La Rondalla headquarters are located at the Avenida Font Martelo 104 in Humacao but they also have projects in Vieques and Yabucoa. Mr. Luis Camacho stated: “The real purpose of La Rondalla is to create better human beings through music. I always tell parents that there is not a complete education without music. One of the worst things that can happen to a kid is to grow up in a cultural void. It has been proven that children that study music are sharper and it’s because they have to develop the specific intellectual skills such as memorization, concentration, creativity, abstract thinking, discipline, etc.  Also, music is for all your life.  You can play music until you are 99.5 years old!”

CAPTION
The Palmas representation at La Rondalla at this time, from left to right: Sebastián Delgado, Javier Delgado, Alejandro Delgado, Isabel Vega, María Vega