José Kessel

José Kessels (31 October 1856 – 10 February 1928), born Pieter Jozef Frans Kessels, was a Dutch musician and composer who settled and worked in El Salvador. He is known for having been the teacher of various Salvadoran composers, notably David Granadino. A memorial and park in the central square of Santa Ana, El Salvador is dedicated to him.

Life and career
Kessels was born on 31 October 1856 to Pieter Jozef Kessels and Maria Catharina Wetzels in Heerlen, Netherlands. He emigrated to Central America and in the city of Santa Ana, El Salvador, he married Concepción Morán, a native of Chalchuapa, with whom he had several children.

On 4 October 1913, the Sociedad Musical Kessels was founded in the town of Concepción de Ataco with the objective of promoting its members advancement in musical art through the establishment of studies under the direction of a competent teacher. He would become the composition teacher to Salvadoran composers David Granadino and Ciriaco de Jesus Alas. Also in the 1900s, Kessels was the director of the Banda Marcial of Santa Ana, which would often play in the city's parks.

He died in Santa Ana on 10 October 1928; he is buried in the Cementerio General Santa Isabel.

Legacy
Salvadoran poet Alfonso Espino, father of poet Alfredo Espino, dedicated two poems (Monólogo de la música and Al artista José Kessels en la muerte de su hijo amado) in his 1919 anthology, Mármoles y bronces, to Kessels.

In the 1960s, the Junta de Progreso Local made a monument with Kessels' bust in a park adjacent to the theater of Santa Ana and facing another monument with the bust of his student, David Granadino; this has become one of the emblematic monuments in the city of Santa Ana.