Maestro Gutiérrez, as he was called by his disciples, distinguished himself as the most outstanding Puerto Rican musician and composer of the 19th century.
Ana Otero Hernández was known as the successor to the great pianist Manuel Gregorio Tavárez, in his own words. She was also the first woman in Puerto Rico to conduct an orchestra.
The history of African influences in Puerto Rican music begins long before 1508, the year in which the Spanish settled the island, and 1492, when Christopher Columbus made Europeans aware of the New World.