e, illustrates music history on the Island, most of which had its origin and development in Ponce.
No discussion of music in Ponce would be complete without rendering honor to the great performances of King of Tenors Antonio Paoli and danza master Juan Morel Campos, both from Ponce. Today, there is a statue of Juan Morel Campos that adorns the Plaza Las Delicias city square, and the home where Paoli was born and raised functions as the Puerto Rico Center for Folkloric Research, a research center for Puerto Rican culture.
There is a municipal band that presents concerns every Sunday evening, and a Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Arts
Ponce's love for the arts dates back to at least 1864 when the Teatro La Perla was built. Ponce is also the birthplace of artists like Miguel Pou, Horacio Castaing, and several others in the fields of painting, sculpture, and others. The City is one of only seven cities in the Western Hemisphere (the others being Mexico City, Havana, Valpara�so, Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, and Rosario) in the Ruta Europea del Modernisme, an international non-profit association for the promotion and protection of Art Nouveau heritage in the world.
Today, Ponce has more museums (nine) than any other municipality in the Island. Ponce is home to the Museo de Arte de Ponce (MAP), founded in 1959 by fellow ponce�o Luis A. Ferr�. The museum was operated by Ferr� until his death at the age of 99, and it is now under the direction of the Luis A. Ferr� Foundation. Designed by Edward Durell Stone, renowned architect of Radio City Music Hall and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, MAP is the only museum of international stature on the Island, the only one accredited by the American Association of Museums (AAM), and the only one that has received a design prize of honor from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). It houses the most extensive art collection in the Caribbean.
Sports
Most of Ponce's
