Genoveva de Arteaga Papers

Genoveva de Arteaga Torruellas was a pianist, organist, teacher, choir director, and one of the principal interpreters of Johann Sebastian Bach.

She was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico on October 22, 1898, the youngest of five children and the only daughter of prominent musicians Julio Carlos de Arteaga and Nicolasa Torruellas. She completed primary and secondary schooling in Puerto Rico where she also began her musical training, first at the school of Pedro Moczó Baniet and then in her parents' de Arteaga Academy where she studied piano, musical theory, organ, and voice.

Genoveva de Arteaga traveled frequently to New York as a youngster, accompanying her father to musical engagements. In 1921, she received a scholarship-from the New York College of Music and moved to New York. She graduated in 1922, and stayed on as an instructor for four years. In the meantime, she continued her musical studies and gave concerts at places such as Carnegie Hall and the Waldorf Astoria. In 1923 she married Eduardo Fort with whom she had her only child, Rodolfo.

Returning to Puerto Rico in 1927, de Arteaga began teaching in Santurce High School and working with the Department of Education. Advocating in favor of music education in Puerto Rico, she presented proposals for mandating its inclusion in the curriculum, but these were rejected. In 1929, Genoveva de Arteaga founded the Chopin Music Academy which she also directed. This academy became the prestigious San Juan Conservatory of Music in 1933, and she served as its president until 1937.

Throughout the 1930s, while she resided in Puerto Rico, de Arteaga was active in various cultural and political organizations such as the First Assembly of Puerto Rican Women of the Red Cross which supported nationalist causes. De Arteaga was also active as a writer, collaborating on such publications as Ambito, Poliedro, Verano, El Mundo, La Correspondencia de Puerto Rico, Curso de Música, y Lógica Musical among others. At the same time, de Arteaga continued developing her artistic career. She performed as a soloist, for example, with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and became the first woman to direct an operatic production in Puerto Rico with Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana at the San Juan Municipal Theater.

In 1936, she left on a prolonged tour throughout Europe and Latin America with the Argentine violinist Andrés S. Dalmau whom she would later marry. During this tour, de Arteaga performed in over 2,000 concerts. A biographical book about this tour was written by Hernando Merchand, Hispanoamérica en dos mil conciertos, New York: 1974.

In 1955, after the death of her second husband Andrés S. Dalmau, de Arteaga took up residence close to her family in New York City. Here she resumed her artistic and cultural activities. She served the community by offering free concerts in schools and churches and helped found such institutions as the New York Folkloric Festival, the Baroque Music Society, the Julio C. de Arteaga Music Academy, and the Musical Society of the Friends of de Arteaga in honor of her father. She was a member of numerous professional associations such as the National Guild of Piano Teachers, the American Guild of Organists, and the Choral Conductors' Guild. She was also on the faculty of the New York College of Music and the American Conservatory of Music. In addition, de Arteaga continued to write about music in newspapers such as El Tiempo, and El Diario, and in the magazines Euterpe, which she founded, and Voz Femenina.

Genoveva de Arteaga died on March 1, 1991 in New York City. During her lifetime she did much to encourage the love of music among people, especially youth. She played an important role in promoting Puerto Rican classical musicians and building Puerto Rican musical institutions. Her achievements are not widely recognized, but those who examine her Papers will find that she was an extraordinary woman who well deserves to have her story told.