CLAEM
The American Music Research Center听and the Department of Musicology听will host Rutgers University musicology professor,听, on Monday, Oct 26 at 1 pm (MST) for his presentation, 鈥�Americanism as Musical Strategy: From Pan Americanism to Latin Americanism.鈥�听 Dr. Herrera鈥檚 research reveals the transformational work of graduates from the听听(CLAEM, 1962鈥�1971) who reconfigured pan-national discourses of Latin Americanism into a united, regional community that strategically positioned itself in the classical music tradition.
Graduates of CLAEM spent two years with composers from different Central and South American countries comparing information from classical music with what was being done in neighboring countries.听 Herrera noted, 鈥淭his simple condition, being able to spend time together knowing each other personally and musically, marked a significant difference in the creation of regional networks.鈥�
鈥淐LAEM was a place for听the exchange of ideas, materials, and the creation of friendships and听solidarity networks, much like many other meeting places for classical听composers during the twentieth century鈥攖he Darmstadt Summer Courses or the听Warsaw Autumn and Donaueschingen Festivals, for example,鈥� disclosed Dr. Herrera. 鈥淗owever, unlike them,听the extended two-year duration of the study program at CLAEM created a听unique situation for profound exchange among some of the most talented听composers of the听whole region. The friendships generated听and the multi-national character of CLAEM facilitated the adoption of a听regional identity for a 鈥楲atin American avant-garde鈥� in an art world that was听largely European and U.S.-centric.鈥�
Herrera (pictured left) met with many of the composers he writes about and shared that he, 鈥渟pent time with them and got to understand how they made sense of what it meant to be an avant-garde composer during that decade.鈥澨� He added, 鈥淚 learned more from them than I could from any archive.鈥澨� Herrera also credits the Di Tella Institute at听听in Argentina, the听听in New York, and the听听in Germany as sources for his research.
Herrera鈥檚 talk is part of the Musicology & Music Theory Colloquium series at 彩民宝典鈥檚 College of Music, a series of presentations to faculty, students, and the community that features leading national and international researchers in music theory and听ethnomusicology.
Dr. Herrera recently published听听(Oxford University Press, 2020)听and is currently working on two more book projects,听Sounding Fandom: Chanting, Masculinity, and Violence in Argentine Soccer Stadiums听and听Soccer Sounds: Transnational Stories of the Beautiful Game.