Fabiola Mendez says kids used to tease her growing up for playing the Puerto Rican cuatro. "People would make fun of me and be like, 'That’s such a lame instrument, that’s an instrument for 'viejitos, ...

The cuatro is the principal icon of traditional Venezuelan music. It is often learned at an early age and accompanies the majority of songs that recount the country's folklore. The cuatro is present ...

Fabiola Mendez’s fingers moved agilely and rapidly along the strings of her cuatro playing a happy folk song from her native Puerto Rico. It was just the two of us in a small office, seated directly ...