About the Festival del Cuatro
The Cuatro, Puerto Rico's national instrument, is iconic of Puerto Rican culture. It means "things Puerto Rican." The Festival del Cuatro of California is a sharing of Puerto Rican culture, through its music, with other Puerto Ricans and non-Puerto Ricans who might not otherwise have exposure to a musical tradition that is more than 300 years old.
The Festival del Cuatro of California serves as a vehicle for promoting our national instrument, traditional Puerto Rican music, and the broader Puerto Rican culture of which we are so proud. We do not do this in a narrow sense. We invite others who are not Puerto Rican to join us and to partake of this cultural feast as we seek to connect with other cultural traditions to promote understanding and better communication among all peoples.
Mission
The Festival Del Cuatro aims to celebrate and preserve Puerto Rico’s rich musical and artistic heritage by maintaining our traditions, promoting our arts, providing educational opportunities in arts programming and cultivating pride in our heritage for future generations.
The Puerto Rican Cuatro is a ten-string instrument with over 300 years of history that is used to play Puerto Rican traditional and modern music. The Festival Del Cuatro was founded in February 2005 to bring awareness of Puerto Rican culture and traditional art forms to Southern California communities.
The Cuatro Festival aims to be an educational resource for the community and its young people. Festival Del Cuatro actively promotes the artistic expression of the Puerto Rican community and seeks to preserve it for future generations by developing and providing ongoing programs in the visual arts, language, education, and music.
Goals
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Annual or Semi Annual Puerto Rican Cuatro Festival in California highlighting and celebrating Puerto Rico’s musical traditions and culture.
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Educate, entertain, inform and engage the broader communities and the more than 100,000 Puerto Ricans in Southern California.
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Promote a greater appreciation of Puerto Rican Culture and build bridges to other communities.
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Recognize the contributions made by many artists to this cultural heritage.
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Highlight a musical tradition known as “Musica Jibara” (Music from the Mountains in Puerto Rico).
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Feature some of Puerto Rico's finest Masters of the Cuatro and traditional artisans for an endeavor that will satisfy the most discerning music and art appreciation.
Benefits
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The entire program would be carried out by the core team of organizers for the Puerto Rican Cuatro Festival here in California.
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Interaction with the musicians during the day planned activities. These would be talks with a panel of all the musicians to participate in the evening concert where they interact with the public and describe in their own words what has driven them to acquire that love for the Cuatro and all that surrounds it like the music and traditions.
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The Puerto Rican Cuatro Project (PRCP) has an extensive collection of photographs and video documentaries, which would be displayed on the day of the event.
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The PRCP can provide information in all topics related to the PR Cuatro and Jibaro Music.
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They have the most extensive collection of interviews of the musicians and personalities that made the Cuatro known as it is today.
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The public would benefit from a wonderful cultural experience that would draw them back to their childhood and remember those days when the Cuatro was one of the main instruments heard in Puerto Rican music.
"El Cuatro Es Mi Bandera"
by José Vadi
Now for the third year, a group of Puerto Ricans in southern California has been working to create the Festival del Cuatro as a cultural event in our region. We have undertaken this task because there are over 150,000 Puerto Ricans in California and we lack a visible presence here. As Latinos who are U.S. citizens, we can serve as a bridge to other Latino communities and the broader population of the state. In our view, our wonderful musical culture provides an excellent means to achieve these goals. The cuatro, our national instrument, serves as an icon of our unique culture and we propose to reach out to others in ways that are uplifting and educational.
For Puerto Ricans, the Festival can become a way to unify us through our culture. It becomes a vehicle for educating our children who might be losing or who might have lost links with our culture. With a greater visible presence in California, and with greater unity, we might then be able to tackle other issues of concern to us and to other Latinos in California. Whatever our political positions might be, we are linked to one another by our wonderful culture and this culture is relatively unknown in California or is distorted.
In addition to these very important goals, we also just want to have some fun and to get to know one another. What Puerto Rican does not like the sound of a well-played cuatro accompanied by guitar, guiro, and percussion? The sounds of this music take each one of us to different places. It might remind us of our parents or of neighborhood groups playing on street corners, or of parrandas at Christmas. Others might associate it with the smell of coffee (Bustelo, Yaucono) being made with a colador at family gatherings at the kitchen table. One musician replied, when asked what the cuatro meant to him, "El cuatro es mi bandera." To some of us, this might be a bit of a "stretch" and yet it rings true as we identify the instrument with "things Puerto Rican."
Board of Directors
 Roberto Rivera
President
Born in Newark, New Jersey. His parents moved to Puerto Rico when he was 6 months old. He grew up in Bayamon and attended Mennonite Academy and Wesleyan Academy, private Christian schools in Guaynabo, PR. He started his university studies in Recinto Universitario de Mayaguez, later transferring to Rutgers University in New Jersey at the age of 21. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Rutgers University and began his career in the science field. He received three grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, in the Folk Arts Apprenticeship program. With these grants Roberto apprenticed with a Nationally recognized instrument builder to learn the art of making the Puerto Rican Cuatro. He's worked on instruments for Yomo Toro, Edwin Colon Zayas, Alvin Medina, Nicholas Radina and many other famous musicians and performers. For the past 5 yrs Roberto took residence in California to work for a mayor Biotech Company in Southern California. When not at work he is busy enjoying California with his family, building Cuatros and other Latin American instruments, and serving as President of the Festival del Cuatro organization.
 Dr. José M. Vadi
Vice President
Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico and migrated to New York when he was five years old. He grew up in El Barrio and went to public schools in New York City. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from the City University of New York and his Doctorate Degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He has been a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow and a Ford Foundation Foreign Affairs Scholar. He specializes in the politics of Latin America and heads the Cuba Program at the California State Polytechnic University at Pomona.
 Ajeé Ortiz
Treasurer
Ajeé was born and raised in Southern California where San Diego is called
home. Her family originates from Poncé, Puerto Rico and France. Growing up dancing ballet, ballroom, and salsa she has always had a love for music and the arts. Ajeé has worked with an engineering firm for over 8 years, and with a passion for knowledge she continues her education, first majoring in Psychology and currently working towards a Bachelors degree in Business Accounting and Nursing. Ajeé is a huge advocate for animal and human rights, using her abilities to raise awareness for those without a voice.
 Daniel P. Perez
Secretary
Daniel was born in Bethesda, Maryland and was raised primarily in Southern California. He graduated from The California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, with a B.A. in Political Science (with a major emphasis and concern for: Politics of Latin America, International Relations, U.S. Foreign Policy, and Politics of Developing Nations). Currently, Daniel works the County of Orange in the Public Works Department. Dainel is also the webmaster for the Festival del Cuatro, and is an accomplished amature photographer.
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Breaking News
Tickets for The 3rd Annual Festival del Cuatro are Available Now!
The best seats in the house will sell first, so don't put it off, get your tickets now.
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Not able to attend this years Festival del Cuatro? Donate!
If you are unable to attend this years Festival or would like to make an additional contribution to our organization, please consider donating.
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