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A portrait of a person wearing pale makeup accented by bright pink and turquoise around the eyes. He has a gray beard and face-framing wavy gray hair that reaches his bare shoulders. He wears sequined arm-length turquoise gloves and leans his head on one hand against a dark backdrop.

Photo by Quique Cabanillas.

Artists

Eduardo Alegría

Queer Storyteller

San Juan, Puerto Rico (Borikén)

Because of certain insecurities about my unorthodox training as a musical artist, the first years of my musical journey were marked by isolation. I would create, compose, write, and, once I had something ready, I would then open up to my band members and other collaborators. At this stage of my career, and in part ignited by all the hardships that have come with surviving in this colony, I have opened up my work process more and more, and I have learned to allow others to bring their differences and surprises into my work. I am learning to relinquish control and enjoying the richness that this has brought to my work and to my personal life.”
Eduardo Alegría is a musical artist based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Alegría composes, produces, and performs independently. Popular forms of music are his preferred forms. He comes from a multidisciplinary background that includes dance and theater training which informs and expands his musical work. He began producing and presenting original works in 1991, and between 1992 and 1997, he produced and presented in New York City where he lived. In 1997, he founded the electro-acoustic pop act Superaquello, considered one of the pillars of the current “escena local,” the independent Puerto Rican musical scene where many important and new queer artistic voices are developing outside the mainstream. He has worked as a musical consultant for local TV programs, scored films and documentaries, and currently works as a theater teacher for kids between thirteen and sixteen years of age. After the breakup of Superaquello in 2010, he began composing solo and produced mixed-media venues for his new music, which culminated in his current musical identity, the band Alegria Rampante. Under this moniker, he has recorded two albums, Se nos fue la mano (2015) and Poblado (2022). This new album of collaborations with twelve different local independent artists has further expanded his musical horizons and begun a new era in Alegría’s career more centered in community building.

Donor -This award was generously supported by the Mellon Foundation.

This artist page was last updated on: 07.10.2024

Alegría Rampante. El Concertazo (en vivo desde Bellas Artes, Santurce).