PRIMA is a collective of musicians and artists on a mission to help sustain the independent music community in Puerto Rico.
Co-Founded by Puerto Rican musicians Ani Cordero & Raquel Berríos, the fund was established in October of 2017 to provide emergency aid to musicians and artists on the island who suffered economic hardship after the devastating impact of Hurricane Maria.
At launch, PRIMA partnered with PREGONES Puerto Rican Traveling Theater on this emergency grant initiative and was able to give over 50 micro-grants ($500 each) to musicians and artists on the island.
Now that the emergency phase has ended, PRIMA is transitioning to provide broader support for this vital creative community through support for creative projects, by hosting a series of official events, and by supporting initiatives to increase visibility for island-based musicians and artists. We are also dedicated to building bridges between island-based community and the Puerto Rican diaspora.
This new mission falls outside of our agreement with PREGONES which is strictly for emergency micro-grants and is the reason we are seeking new fiscal sponsorship.
To give some examples of the kind of work we are doing:
PRIMA GENERAL ASSEMBLY: March 2018
San Juan, Puerto Rico
This was an open assembly and discussion about the future of PRIMA. It was a free event hosted at the Teatro Shorty Castro in Santurce, Puerto Rico and was attended by about 50 musicians and artists. We also live-streamed the event for those who could not attend in person.
PRIMA co-founder Raquel Berríos and I gave a presentation on the work we had done to raise funds and the number of emergency grants we had been able to give, and then we opened the discussion to the audience in a panel-style/round table talk about what the community felt were the main obstacles they were facing, and how PRIMA could be most helpful in our next phase.
The key take-aways were that they needed help in increasing their visibility and networking opportunities, and support in helping be able to connect with the diaspora and present their music outside of the island.
PRIMA NYC Showcase 2018: (Example of helping increase visibility of Puerto Rican Artists)
Last July we hosted an official PRIMA Showcase where we brought four independent bands from Puerto Rico to play in NYC.
This event was timed to coincide with the Latin Alternative Music Conference.
Bands were chosen by jurors based on their submissions of recordings, live performance videos, plans for a musical release before or immediately following the showcase, and general professionalism and readiness to take maximum advantage of the opportunity.
70 bands applied, jurors narrowed it down to 7, and then from there selected 4 bands based to curate a diverse line-up (musical, gender, etc).
* PRIMA gave each member of the bands grants for $599 to cover their flights and expenses.
* PRIMA secured them full access to the LAMC conference where they were able to attend panels, meet key players from the music industry, and participate in the press room along with major talent like Jorge Drexler, Ana Tijoux, Mala Rodriguez, Trending Tropics and more.
* We also facilitated each of the bands securing additional opportunities for playing shows. Each of the bands played 2-3 additional shows at other venues in the city while they were here.
* The PRIMA Official Showcase was a free event, open to the public and we had a packed house.
* Our team took care of all venue details, backline, sound and lighting and other needs.
We are planning a similar event for July 14, 2019.
PRIMA Event - December 2018 in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Example of building bridges with the diaspora)
In December we partnered with the Newport Folk Festival and Hurray for the Riff Raff who wanted to organize workshops and donate 20K of instruments to schools on the island. PRIMA helped them identify the schools and connected them with 4 PRIMA artists who participated in the workshops with Alynda from Hurray for the Riff Raff. This was a moving experience for all involved and created new friendships with the PRIMA artists and Alynda who is Nuyorican.
That same week, we hosted Hurray for the Riff Raff in their first ever show on the island and arranged for PRIMA artists to play in the opening slots. The night was also free and open to the public and again a packed house. We would like to continue these kind of community building events and continue to build connections between musicians in the diaspora and on the island.
