Manuel L. Posadas (1860-1916) was a leading

Afro-Argentine Afro-Argentines (), also known as Black Argentines (), are Argentines who have predominantly or total Sub-Saharan African ancestry. The Afro-Argentine population is the result of people being brought over during the Atlantic slave trade, transat ...

musician from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Biography

Manuel L. Posadas was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

in 1860, the son of a musician, journalist and soldier Manuel G. Posadas and Emilia Smith. He was the brother of Carlos Posadas, who also excelled in the local industry. He showed talent for music, studying in the School of Music of the

province of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

in 1875, being a disciple of Pedro Ripari. In 1879 he traveled to Belgium to improve his studies, entering the

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (, ) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Providing performing music and drama courses, the institution became renowned par ...

where he studied under some of the great European masters of the era, including the violin and Belgian composer Eugene Ysaye. He performed as a violinist at the

Teatro Real The Teatro Real () is an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace, and known colloquially as "''El Real''" (The Royal One). it is considered the top institution of the performing and musical arts ...

of the galleries there and in 1882 he returned to Buenos Aires offering on arrival a concert at the Coliseum Theatre on 9 September of that year. He returned to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

for a while, but finally settled back in his native city, devoting himself to teaching music. He became first violin of the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...

and taught at the National Institute for the Blind. Among his students were told the teacher

Juan José Castro Juan José Castro (March 7, 1895September 3, 1968) was an Argentina, Argentine composer and conductor. Born in Avellaneda, Castro studied piano and violin under Manuel Posadas and composition under Eduardo Fornarini, in Buenos Aires. In the 1920 ...

(1895—1968), a leading composer and conductor. He also directed some of the bands that inspired the dance of Carnival in the city: the daily La Tribune in its edition of February 11, 1903 reported that "The Argentine Politeama dances presented at the next innovation that will surely be received with satisfaction by the item dancer. The company has paid particular attention to organize an orchestra of 40 full professors in Argentina, under the direction of maestro Manuel Posadas." He died in Buenos Aires in 1916.

References

*Jorge Miguel Ford, ''Worthy of my race'', Typography at the School of Arts and Crafts, 1899 *George Reid Andrews, ''The Afro-Argentines of Buenos Aires'', Ediciones de la Flor, 1989 *Andrew M. Carter, ''Transculturation and syncretism in afroporteños'', in ''Tales of the City - A Journal of Buenos Aires'', No. 7, December 2000. *Vicente Gesualdo, ''History of Music in Argentina'', Volume 1, Editorial Beta, 1961 {{DEFAULTSORT:Posadas, Manuel L. 1860 births 1916 deaths Afro-Argentine musicians Argentine musicians Argentine people of Scottish descent