Mention the name
Ana Otero to the average person in Puerto Rico or the States. More than likely, you will draw a blank. In her brief but spectacular life she was a prodigy, an internationally renowned virtuoso, composer, arranger, musical director, educator, activist, and patriot. Today, with rare exceptions, she is mostly forgotten.
HUMACAO · THE EARLY YEARS
Ana “Anita” Otero Hernández was born in the villa of Humacao, Puerto Rico on July 24, 1861, to Don Ignacio Otero y Aquilina and Doña Carmen Hernández Ramos. She was one of sixteen siblings (twelve males, six females) and one of eight who survived. According to her mother’s unpublished memoirs