Senator Nelie Lebron Robels - Contact Information

A native of Guayama, Puerto Rico, Professor Nelie Lebron Robles is a singer, bassist, and Music Education teacher at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. Since 1981 he has been the main voice of the Paracumbé Joint Workshop, directed by the Puerto Rican ethnomusicologist Emanuel Dufrasne González. The prof. Lebron has a bachelor’s degree in Musical Education (singing) and a bachelor’s degree in Special Education from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus (Cum Laude). He also holds a master’s degree in talented child education from the same institution. He has been a solo singer with the Choir of the University of Puerto Rico, among other important choral groups on the Island.

She was a music teacher in the public education system of Puerto Rico, where in 1994 she was selected National Teacher of the Year, an award given for her excellence as an educator. During that period, he represented the Island in important international educational events.

In 2024, she retired as a Music Education teacher from the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, after 24 years of service. She was director of the Department of Musical Education, academic senator and member of the Board of Directors of the Conservatory representing the teaching staff. In this line, he began the Department’s curricular review and served as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Education of Puerto Rico.

As lead singer of Paracumbé, prof. Lebron has been responsible for making the vocal arrangements and with his ensemble he has traveled through Europe, South America, the United States and Europe. He has also sung with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and the New York Symphony Orchestra, with which he recorded the CD Bomba Sinfónica by musician and composer William Cepeda. She was the first artist to sing bomba at the Casals Festival, along with the Brass Choir of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. The prof. Lebron has also recorded with important national and international artists such as Ríe Akagi (Japan), El Conjunto Los Vasallos (Venezuela) and Leo Brouwer (Cuba), among others. Her lullabies have been included in various recorded collections such as Voices of Latin American Women and Latin Lullabies. With Paracumbé he has recorded three musical productions.

As an educator, prof. Lebron has written two musical education guides for early childhood and is currently working on his first book of stories for boys and girls. Since 2006 he has produced the radio program BOTH A TWO, STORIES AND SONGS, the only program aimed at presenting music for children on Puerto Rican national radio. It is broadcast on the public university station WRTU, Radio Universidad. (www.radiouniversidad.pr). Together with her husband, Emanuel Dufrasne González, she wrote the Coastal Mass (1986), the first Catholic Mass to incorporate Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms of plena and bomba into the worship ritual. The prof. Lebron has presented workshops and illustrated conferences on Puerto Rican music and music for children in Puerto Rico, the United States, Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, Grenada, Mexico,Guatemala and Jamaica. She is an active member of the MOCILYC, (Latin American and Caribbean Song Movement), FLADEM, (Latin American Forum of Musical Education) and collaborator of the virtual international radio station of music for children, Radio Butiá.

In the Catholic Church of Puerto Rico, he is a member of the 2024 Synodal Committee, representing the laity of the Archdiocese of San Juan.

Lebron has also been linked to struggles for social justice and equity, particularly in the area of women’s rights. As an educator, her particular interest revolves around the rights of children guaranteed by the UN Bill of Rights, specifically the rights to education and identity. His master’s thesis and subsequent writings precisely address the issue of identity as an inherent right of the human being. Likewise, her particular interest in education for peace, justice and equity has led her to participate in forums and conferences that discuss these topics, among others of great importance for national children and youth. In this regard, Professor Lebron has been linked to the promotion of legislation that guarantees comprehensive education for national childrenthat includes not only equal access to science and mathematics regardless of gender, but also access to artistic education for all students through public schools, which does not depend on the economic condition or external resources available to children.

Lebron is a member of the municipal committee of the Puerto Rican independence party in Carolina, a member of the PIP Government Commission in the area of education and Representative by Accumulation for the same party since January 8, 2025.