Rubén Colón Tarrats

Rubén Colón Tarrats
Rubén Colón Tarrats directing the Banda Municipal de Ponce
Background information
Birth name	Rubén Colón
Born	9 March 1940 New York, New York
Origin	Ponce, Puerto Rico
Genres	Danzas, plenas, valls, polkas, boleros and danzones
Occupation(s)	Clarinetist, composer, band director
Years active	1965-2013
Associated acts	Banda Municipal de Ponce, Coro de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico, Ponce Municipal Government
Notable instruments
Clarinet

Rubén Colón Tarrats (b. 1940) is a Puerto Rican composer, clarinet player and band director from Ponce, Puerto Rico. He also conducted the Banda Municipal de Ponce for ten years. He received his music training at Escuela Libre de Música de Ponce, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, and Temple University College of Music, and was a music professor at Ponce High School, Instituto de Musica Juan Morel Campos, and Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Puerto Rico.

During a music career that spanned half a century, he directed over a dozen choirs, composed over 200 works of music, founded music institutes and music festivals, directed numerous orchestras, presented concerts spanning the Western Hemisphere, and was president of the Puerto Rican Association of Choir Directors. Upon his retirement from active music life, he was honored by many artists, educators, and politicians, and was also honored by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña and the Ponce Municipal Government.

Rubén Colón Tarrats was born on 9 March 1940 in New York, New York, while his parents, both Puerto Ricans, were visiting relatives in the Big Apple. His parents were Isaac Colón and Luz María Tarrats, both from Ponce. His family, including little Ruben Colón Tarrats, returned to Ponce before Colón Tarrats was a year old and he subsequently started his grade school in the public schools of the Ciudad Señorial.