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Gloria González (born Gloria González Pérez on April 6) is a Puerto Rican composer with an extensive repertoire of pop and salsa songs.
Early years
Gloria González, born on April 6, at Antonsanti Street, Stop 22 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. She is the only daughter of Jorge González and Blanca Pérez, both from the town of Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
She studied her elementary grades at Manuel Padre Rufo School, located in Del Parque Street, Stop 23 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Her secondary studies were done at República Del Perú Jr. High in Loiza Street, also in Santurce. In 1958, she moved with her father to New York City, where she attended P.S. 71 on Avenue B in Manhattan.
Gloria returned to Puerto Rico and got married. She gave birth to a girl, named Catherine Ivonne and later adopted another girl, named María de los Ángeles.
In 1967 she decided to continue her studies and graduated from Ramírez College as a paralegal secretary. After she divorced her first husband, she married a second time with Juan Rodríguez and had a son named Carlos Javier. During 1970 she started working with the Justice Department, but due to a back injury, in 1983 she decided to retire. It is during this period that González became interested in popular music and decided to study at the Music Conservatory; entirely dedicating herself to the composition of musical themes.
Career as a song composer
She has written well over 300 songs, within the Salsa music genre, among the renowned artists who have interpreted of her romantic line of songs, are Marco Antonio Muñiz, Gilberto Santa Rosa, El Gran Combo, Tony Vega, Frankie Ruiz, Bobby Valentín, Andy Montañez, Carmita Jiménez, Nano Cabrera, Los Hispanos, Cheo Feliciano, and many others.
One of her most famous song "Así Es Mi Tierra", was performed by the septet Sol y Canto and accompanied by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra on February 28, 2004.
Awards and recognitions
Gloria González has received awards and recognitions from institutions of paramount importance such as the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture (11/28/1986). Broadway Awards (1988), Paoli Award, awards from the municipalities of Carolina and Arecibo (4/8/2002), as well as recognitions in theaters, TV shows in Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Chile, and New York City.
In June [1991], she was honored with the dedication of the annually National Day of Salsa)., currently celebrated on the third Sunday in the month of March in Puerto Rico. Bobby Valentín was also honored that day.
Later years
In 2004, she moved to Central Florida where she currently lives. In 2007, she was honored at the "Asociación Borinqueña" of Central Florida, in Orlando, Florida for her career as a composer.