PRSO comes bearing gifts for Reyes

The Three Magi, Melchior, Gaspar and Baltazar, bearing the storied gold, frankincense and myrrh, represent royalty, divinity and suffering/death. They also represent three ages of humanity and three distinct races, according to observers of the time. (Pinterest)

By Peggy Ann Bliss

Special to The Star

It wouldn’t be Las Fiestas in Puerto Rico without the annual visit of The Three Kings. And it wouldn’t be Epiphany in Puerto Rico without Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra (PRSO) Emeritus Conductor Roselín Pabón’s Reyando, an annual concert of native talent and folk tributes to the Christ Child.

The annual tradition (which has already sold out) will be held Sunday at Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in Santurce. The concert will begin at 5 p.m. in the Antonio Paoli Festival Hall.

Pabón, who will observe his 80th birthday in May, says he is just getting started. The Mayagüez native seems especially pleased that one of the participating groups is a chorus from his hometown.

Pabón, who started with the PRSO in 1979 as its assistant music director, is retired with the title emeritus, and has been especially admired for his holiday concerts for almost half a century. The orchestral music veteran, for whom conducting is “my favorite aerobic exercise,” has been scouring the island for fresh talent since September. The process involves auditioning budding four- to 18-year-old musicians whose talent “spans both classical and folk genres.”

A tradition of giving

The Three Magi, Melchior, Gaspar and Baltazar, bearing the storied gold, frankincense and myrrh, represent royalty, divinity and suffering/death. On Epiphany, Jan. 6, Christians celebrate their following a star to a humble manger in Bethlehem. The dramatic procession sparked a tradition of post-Christmas gift giving throughout the Christian world, especially in Hispanic and Latin American countries, and in unexpected places such as Poland.

According to observers of the time, the Kings represent three ages of humanity and three distinct races. This latter fact is reflected in the iconic sculpture of The Magi in the plaza of the southwestern town of Juana Díaz, where a Taíno, Spaniard and African make up the sacred tableau.

Conductor Roselín Pabón, who will observe his 80th birthday in May, is retired with the title emeritus. He has been especially admired for his holiday concerts for almost half a century. (Facebook via Roselín Pabón)

On Epiphany Eve, Puerto Rican children fill shoe boxes with freshly picked succulent grass for the horses, although in some countries, the hungry visitors are camels. Elsewhere, shoes are filled with the reward for the hard-working beasts.

The concert, whose traditional glue is the 67-year-old PRSO, will offer the Austrian classic “Silent Night” played by a four-year-old boy on the cuatro, as well as the hauntingly lyrical “Villancico Yaucano,” penned by Amaury Veray in the western island town of Yauco. Honoring this regal pageant revered over the centuries will be décima singers and operatic stars such as the Borinquen Tenors, who will offer some beloved Italian crooning. They will interpret the 19th-century Neapolitan classic “O Sole Mio,” immortalized by The Three Tenors, Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras. Eleven-year-old guitarist Milton Dávila Jr., from Cayey, will interpret the classic concert piece “Asturias” by Isaac Albéniz.

In complete contrast, “a young lady from Culebra will offer the Brazilian traditional ‘Tico Tico’ on the steel drums,” Pabón said, referring to an instrument associated with the Caribbean island of Trinidad.

“Just as the Kings brought their gifts to the Child, our youth will bring their amazing talents to our people,” said Pabón, a graduate of Peabody Institute of Music in Baltimore, who has taught at the Puerto Rico Music Conservatory since 1978 and directs its excellent orchestra.

Around the world

It may be winter in some parts of the world, but el maestro has picked another seasonal favorite for La Rondalla de Humacao, powered by a small group of youngsters with conditions such as Down syndrome and autism. This handful of enthusiastic performers does more than justice to the 80-year-old “Autumn Leaves” falling from their native cuatros with aplomb, he promises.

Many of the present members of the PRSO have made their big-time debut in one of Pabón’s holiday specials, most notably assistant concert master Francisco Jiménez and another half-dozen musicians Pabón proudly credits himself with discovering. Many have also become cherished trovadores, the kind who can improvise at the drop of a hat.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our youth,” Pabón says as he muses on his many encounters with unsung talents from every nook and cranny of Puerto Rico.

“People recommend them to me and I audition them,” he said. “I pick the best for [one of the holiday specials] and the others I tell to come back next year,” he said. “Many of them have greatly improved and are chosen to perform.”

“This is a showcase of the quality of our music and our musicians: classical, folk, country, instrumental,” Pabón added. “There is a high percentage of talent in every area for a small territory of 3 million people. It is our ‘mestizaje,’ or mixed blood; we have the DNA of the world.”