SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Puerto Rico has a deep musical heritage and a tradition of adopting musical genres that come from various countries. Leveraging this heritage and embracing its own 125th anniversary, Popular has produced "More than a Century", its new musical special.
This musical production shares moments that reflect the different times where Puerto Ricans have experienced both the ups and downs as the country developed and through it all – it has always been unified by music.
“More than a Century” was filmed by Cinetrix and PVC led the music production. The direction was in the hands of Ari Maniel Cruz, who also worked the script with Ray Figueroa. Carlos M. Aponte was the lead editor and the renowned cinematographer Chago Benet headed the cinematography of this new piece. The production was helmed by Euskady Burgos and Carmen Díaz, Hugo Viera was tasked to ensure historical accuracy.
The musical direction was led by renowned musician Luis Amed Irizarry, who, along with the producers, José David Pérez, Antonio Caraballo, Josué Deprat and Diego Centeno, contributed to each of the musical genres. Adiela Marie was the musical production’s manager and Helvia Irizarry was the production coordinator.
The production also counted on the talented writing of journalist Ana Teresa Toro who created the dialogues.
"The music special spans 26 years of tradition that, in addition to leaving a legacy and bringing joy to our homes, has a philanthropic purpose. Through the Banco Popular Foundation, we allocate part of the funds raised from sales to organizations and schools with musical programs. This year we are very proud to have a professional team who takes us through the past 125 years,” said Ignacio Alvarez, President and Chief Executive Officer of Popular.
The new music production features renowned voices such as Prince Royce, Bad Bunny, Jeimy Osorio, Pedro Capó, Obie Bermúdez, Charlie Aponte, Choco Orta, Chamir Bonano, Hermes Croatto, Antonio Cabán Vale, Raquel Sofía, and Andrea Cruz, as well as new talented musicians such as Gyan Marckus, Deborah Matos, Pedro Claudio and Andra Lorenza.
The music special also counts on the participation of actors: Modesto Lacén, Cordelia González, Luz Maria Rondón, Braulio Castillo, Juan Pablo Díaz, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Eyra Agüero, Marian Pabón, Luis Gonzaga, and Jacobo Morales as narrators.
"We are very proud to have so many talented artists in this music special. We are a country rich in culture and the musical specials that we present year after year showcases it. For Popular, it is important to continue these projects that, in addition to sharing our musical culture with others, it also becomes a collaborative platform for hundreds of local and international artists," said Eduardo Negrón, Executive Vice President of the Administration Group of Popular.
Some of the songs included in the "More than a Century" CD are: De Bandazo, Felices Días, Vengo del Olivo, La Despedida, La Ultima copa, Un Lugar para los Dos, Agúzate, Visa para un Sueño, Espíritu Libre, Desde el Corazón, Hijos del Cañaveral, and Wepa, Wepa, Wepa.
The music special will air on Puerto Rico’s main channels and via www.masdeunsiglo.com (for 24 hours) on December 2 at 8:00 p.m. Banco Popular branches, record stores, Amazon and iTunes will have the music available for purchase on Monday, December 3.
To learn more details about the musical special, visit www.másdeunsiglo.com or to obtain images of the artists in this year’s production visit https://newsroom.popular.com/multimedia/photos-page.
