By The Star Staff
The Paoli House of the Puerto Rico Folklore Research Center, Inc., is facing a financial crisis because the Joint Commission on Legislative Donations for Community Impact gave the organization very little funding.
The institution, which will commemorate its 50th anniversary next year, received only $4,400 of the $20 million allocated in the 2024-2025 fiscal budget.
“The majority of legislators, both in the House and the Senate, agreed to overrule and to table the permanent closure of Casa Paoli. It would be very convenient for our country to open its eyes and ask why they want to destroy our cultural institutions that promote Puerto Rican identity,” said the founder and director of Casa Paoli, Professor Néstor Murray-Irizarry.
“Only representatives of Ponce, Domingo J. Torres García and Ángel A. (Tito) Fourquet Cordero, allocated special funds for the restoration of Casa Paoli,” he added.
The Paoli House is where the tenor Antonio Paoli y Marcano (1871-1946) was born and lived. He is considered the most important tenor born on American soil. Paoli was the first tenor in the world to record a complete opera, “The Clowns” by Italian composer Ruggero Leoncavallo. His career included presentations on the most prestigious stages internationally.
Over the past 50 years, Casa Paoli’s mission has encompassed a variety of cultural activities, including the publication of more than 50 titles, educational talks, Afro-Puerto Rican studies seminars, workshops on instrument making, and the permanent exhibition of traditional musical instruments from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. He has also collaborated with the Puerto Rican diaspora and supported Casa Negra in the San Antón neighborhood of Ponce.
The Board of Directors of Casa Paoli has called on the interim mayor of Ponce, Marlese Sifre, to demonstrate her commitment to culture and support the 50th anniversary of this vital institution for Ponceños and Puerto Ricans in general.
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