When you think about it, Puerto Rico didn’t stand a chance.
First, in early September, the U.S. tropical territory got a gut punch from the near-Category-5-strong Hurricane Irma.
Two weeks later, on Sept. 20, Maria, packing an equal if not more deadly wallop, crashed in to seemingly finish the island off, knocking its power grid out of whack, drowning roads and leveling homes and businesses.
Puerto Rico native José Luis Puerta said the power at his parents’ home just outside the capitol city of San Juan could be out for as long as January or February.
“They charge their phones in the car,” said Puerta, who moved to Tucson 10 years ago to study music at the University of Arizona, where he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees. “They eat canned food and you have to shop every day or the food will spoil. They have a gas stove so they can cook, but it’s still hot and humid. They don’t get winter, it just gets less hot.”
A month after Maria, Puerto Rico is still struggling to put itself back together. Most of its more than 3 million residents lack power, and running water is still on the to-do list for remote rural areas, according to media reports.
Puerta and some of his Tucson musical colleagues are hoping they can help from 3,000 miles away. On Monday, Oct. 30, students and alumni from the UA Fred Fox School of Music, Tucson Symphony Orchestra musicians and a trio of distinguished guitarists will combine talents to help Puerto Rico recover.
Admission to the concert at St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church is free, but donations are welcome to benefit the nonprofit Juntos y Unidos por Puerto Rico (United for Puerto Rico) created by Puerto Rico first lady Beatriz Rosselló to raise money for hurricane victims.
UA alumni including Puerta and fellow guitarist and doctoral graduate Ivar Fojas will join students and their professional counterparts to perform traditional Puerto Rican music (danzas puertoriqueñas, boleros, jíbaros). Thomas Cockrell, head of the Fred Fox School’s conducting program, will lead TSO musicians in chamber works, and Puerta, Fojas and Grant Mille, a UA grad student, will perform as a guitar trio.
The Rev. Mark Schultz and Ingvi Kallen will perform readings, and the event will end with Puerta’s Latin ensemble Grupo Rikén, with Alexis Rivera on cuatro and David Pèrez on percussion, performing folkloric music on traditional instruments. Grupo Rikén has been a regular on Tucson stages, including at last weekend’s Tucson Meet Yourself festival, since 2010
Puerta, who conducts the Tucson Guitar Society guitar orchestra, said that in addition to raising money for hurricane relief, Monday’s concert will be a way to educate people about Puerto Rico.
