Formation of a maestro

Ramón Antonio Molina Pacheco, remembered as Papa Molina, was born on December 19, 1925, in Moca, Espaillat province. He trained at his hometown's Academia Municipal de Música under Arístides Rojas, learning solfège, music theory and trumpet, and soon became solo trumpeter of the town's Banda Municipal and a solfège teacher there himself. After working through the Cibao's leading orchestras, he was hired in 1942, at seventeen, as first trumpet of the Orquesta San José, the official ensemble of La Voz del Yuna, later La Voz Dominicana. His skill as an arranger eventually carried him to the orchestra's directorship, and under his baton it became a standard-setting dance orchestra of the mid-twentieth century.

Recruiting Johnny Ventura

Papa Molina's most consequential decision as a bandleader came in 1963, when he recruited a young Johnny Ventura as a vocalist for La Súper Orquesta San José — the engagement that launched Ventura's career and, with it, one of the defining voices of Dominican merengue.

A songbook of boleros

As a composer, Molina left a run of boleros that became standards of the mid-century Antillean songbook: «Evocación», recorded separately by Alcy Sánchez and Alberto Beltrán with Billo Frómeta's orchestra, by Rafael Colón with Johnny Ventura's orchestra, and by Betty Misiego with Bertico Sosa's orchestra; «Sufro por Ti», popularized by Alberto Beltrán with the Orquesta San José and the La Voz del Yuna choir; «Nunca Te Lo He Dicho», a hit for Lope Balaguer; and «Cuando Volveré a Verte», recorded by Elenita Santos with Rafael Colón and Johnny Ventura's orchestra. Late in his career he turned to concert music, completing the symphonic work «Tres Imágenes Folklóricas» in November 1990; the National Symphony Orchestra premiered it shortly after and has kept it in its regular repertoire since.

Family and honors

Molina was married to the folklorist Josefina Miniño and was the father of the pianist, composer and conductor José Antonio Molina, later director of the National Symphony Orchestra. The Dominican Senate honored him in 2006.

Death

Papa Molina died in Santo Domingo on August 5, 2020, at 94.