Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña

Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña

Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña in Barrio Cuarto
Museo de la Musica Puertorriqueña Location within Puerto Rico
Established	1990
Location	Southeast corner of Isabel and Salud street, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Coordinates	18°0′45.3234″N 66°36′38.772″W / 18.012589833°N 66.61077000°W / 18.012589833; -66.61077000Coordinates: 18°0′45.3234″N 66°36′38.772″W / 18.012589833°N 66.61077000°W / 18.012589833; -66.61077000
Type	music history museum
Owner	State (ICP)

The Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña (English: Museum of Puerto Rican Music) is a museum in Ponce, Puerto Rico, that showcases the development of Puerto Rican music, with displays of Taíno, Spanish, and African musical instruments that were played in the romantic danza genre, the favorite music of 19th-century Puerto Rican high society, as well as the more African-inspired bomba and plena styles. Also on display are memorabilia of composers and performers. The Museum traces the rich musical history of Puerto Rico through memorabilia of prominent musicians and displays of the musical instruments associated with the three genres of music that originated in this Caribbean island.

The building that houses the museum is known as Casa Serrallés and it was the former downtown residence (as opposed to his hilltop Castillo Serrallés structure) of Juan Eugenio Serrallés and his family, owners of Destilería Serrallés and makers of the Don Q rum.

In 1986, the Ponce Municipal Government purchased the Castillo Serrallés to turn it into the Museum of Puerto Rican Music. However, the idea of turning Castillo Serrallés into a music museum was subsequently discarded.

In 1991 the first headquarters of the Museo de la Musica Puertorriqueña were located at 70 Cristina Street in what is now the Centro Cultural de Ponce. The pastel villa building was built by a well known architect named Juan Bertoli Calderoni, who also built many other buildings throughout Puerto Rico. It was designed in the neo-classic architectural style, specifically a French style architecture.