Manuel Y. Ferrer

Who was Manuel Y. Ferrer?

Manuel Y. Ferrer was regarded during his lifetime as one of America’s finest virtuoso guitarists. He was born in San Antonio, Baja California Sur of Spanish parents. As a young man he left his native town, travelling by stage coach to Santa Barbara, in Alta California. He met a priest at mission Santa Barbara, a skilled guitarist, who gave him advanced instructions. Ferrer trained diligently, with the heightened enthusiasm that would gradually established his reputation in the musical world. In 1850 he moved to San Francisco, where his public debut took place at a guitar concert in the Metropolian Theatre on September 18, 1854. On November 22 of the following year, he performed with pianist Gustave A. Scott and harpist William McKorkell at the Music Hall.

Ferrer taught guitar and performed in San Francisco for fifty years. His wife Jesusita de Vivar was also a musician, as were three of his ten children: Adele, Carmelita, and Ricardo. The family toured in the east in 1891, where they performed at the White House and the Vanderbilt mansion in New York.