The Figueroas: Puerto Rico's first family of music

Latin Beat Magazine, May, 2004 by Frank M. Figueroa

In Puerto Rico, the surname Figueroa has always been synonymous with concert music. Four generations of Figueroas have performed in concert halls on the island and enjoyed applause and acclamation in Spain, France, South and Central America and the United States.

The family's patriarch was Jesús Figueroa Iriarte who, along with his wife Carmen Sanabia, gave to the world eight musically gifted offspring. The family roots are found in the coastal town of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. There, on April 17, 1878, Jesús Figueroa Iriarte was born to a poor couple. Orphaned at a young age, he was raised by his uncle José "Ruellán" Lequerica. The musically inclined boy was taught by his uncle, who was a bandmaster and music teacher.

In an interview, Don Jesús Figueroa described his early experiences As a member of a military band:

"They made me a musician in a hurry. In Aguadilla, where I was born, we had a municipal band. The second clarinet player left town and my uncle decided that I should replace him. After one week's rehearsal, I became a clarinetist. Later on, the local voluntary National Guard organized a band and I joined them with my clarinet.

"Those bands were great schools for young musicians. One became familiar with all the instruments. That is how I learned to play the piccolo, cornet, and bombardino (baritone horn). My family was poor and there was no money to buy music method books to continue learning. I used to borrow them and copy them. It was a lot of work. By the time I was seventeen, I was not only an instrumentalist but also a composer of original tunes."

As if it were destined, Figueroa meta young lady by the name of Carmen Sanabia in his hometown, who was learning to play the piano with a teacher from Catalonia, Spain. They liked each other and became sweethearts. Carmen and Jesús combined their musical talents, and soon she was trying out his band arrangements on the piano. In 1902, after a two or three year courtship, they were married. Don Jesús and Doña Carmen tried to earn a living in music.

She taught piano and he played in local bands and taught music. Among his most prominent students was Rafael Hernández, who grew up to become Puerto Rico's most famous composer.

In 1903, the Figueroas moved to San Sebastián del Pepino. He became the bandmaster for the local school band, and she continued to teach piano. Their first child, José (Pepito) was born in 1905 and they movcd to San Juan in 1907. The other Figueroa children: Narciso, Leonorcita, Jaime (Kachiro), Carmelina, Guillermo, Angelina and Rafael, were born in that order in the capital city. In San Juan, the Figueroas opened a music school. Their home is regarded as Puerto Rico's "First National Conservatory of Music." A soon as he could, Figueroa joined the municipal band, and later organized his own dance band. He also kept busy writing zarzuelas, danzas, romanzas and other songs. The Figueroas patriarch also distinguished himself as a clarinetist, flutist, bassist, pianist, arranger, bandmaster and symphonic orchestra leader.

The family's matriarch, Doña Carmen Sanabia de Figueroa, also provided a strong musical foundation. She was an accomplished pianist and taught many future important pianists including four of her own children. The Sanabias were related to another famous Puerto Rican musical family, the Morales. Doña Carmen taught Alicia Morales to play the piano, and Alicia in turn taught her brother, Noro Morales.

One incident in Doña Carmen's life served as motivation for insisting that her children earn academic degrees. It has been reported that one day, Doña Carmen was visited by a piano student she had taught for the past four years, who came to say goodbye; she could no longer take lessons from her because she was to be taught by a teacher with a degree in music. Doña Carmen was crushed. She could have studied in France and earned a degree from the Paris Conservatory with a scholarship given to her by the great Puerto Rican patriot, José Celso Barbosa, but she had to decline it because the death of her father Don José made it impossible for her to leave Puerto Rico.

Doña Carmen made her children promise that they would fill the house with diplomas. The children more than lived up to that promise. José "Pepito" Figueroa, the oldest child, learned to play the violin in his parent's music school. From the age of 7 until he was 18 years old he studied with the Swiss-German maestro Henri Ern. José continued his studies in Europe. When he arrived in Spain, he auditioned for the maestro Antonio Fernández Bordas of the Spanish Royal Conservatory of Music. Once he heard the young violinist, he told him: "There is nothing we can teach you here." José remained in Spain where he won the prestigious Sarasate Award and the First Violin Award issued by Madrid's Royal Conservatory of Music. Pepito moved on to Paris, where he became professor of violin at L'Ecole Normal du Paris.

Doña Carmen was the first piano teacher of her second son, Narciso. At age 15 he enrolled in Madrid's Royal Conservatory of Music, where he won First Prize in Piano Music and the Chamber Music Award. In Paris, he studied at L'Ecole Normal du Paris with famous pianist Alfred Cortot. Later in his career, Narciso returned to Puerto Rico, where he was professor of piano at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music until his retirement.