On Conducting Latin American Music

Alfonso Leng, La muerte de Alsino, opening section. The classical music of Latin America unfolded along an entirely different path than that of Europe or the United States. In fact, the sequential development that we learned about in music history class, that is, concerning the distinct periods ending with “ism,” such as classicism or modernism, …

Pioneers of Musical Pan-Americanism: Francisco Curt Lange

Francisco Curt Lange (1903-1997) was a German-born Uruguayan musicologist. He earned a degree in architecture, and also, pursued studies in music at universities in Leipzig, Berlin, and Munich. At the university in Bonn, in 1929 he received a Ph.D. after writing a dissertation on the polyphonic nature of Dutch motets. The following year, the Uruguayan …

Pioneers of Musical Pan-Americanism: Leopold Stokowski

For a five-year period, from 1936 to 1941, Leopold Stokowski shared the conductor’s podium of the Philadelphia Orchestra with Eugene Ormandy. However, Stokowski’s constant tinkering with the orchestra, such as his once telling the players to sit on stage wherever they wanted, led to increasing acrimony between the two conductors. In fact, by near the …

Some Thoughts on the Use of Terms and Labels

For all intents and purposes, today’s undergraduate music majors in the United States are exposed to little or no information about the classical music of Latin America. For instance, in my copy of the eighth edition of the Burkholder History of Western Music, under the heading, “The Americas,” a grand total of two and a …

Latin American Art Music Festival: Coda

Last night saw the conclusion of the Latin American Art Music Festival at the University of Kansas. I gave the keynote speech about the re-imagination of musical Pan-Americanism, and immediately afterward, I conducted KU music students in a performance of four works that our Cayambis Sinfonietta had previously presented on our 2024 concert last fall. …

Latin American Art Music Festival: Fourth Movement

Yesterday (Sunday), there were several performance events that took place; for instance, one of these was a program of Latin American classical music that was presented by KU music department alumni. You can watch this, as well as all of the other recent performances, on the KU School of Music YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@KUSchoolofMusic You can …

Latin American Art Music Festival: Third Movement

Today, here at the University of Kansas Latin American Art Music Festival, and as part of the “Milton Steinhardt Lectures in Music” series, I gave a talk entitled, “Musicological Disparities: The State of Affairs regarding Latin American Classical Music.” My presentation was centered around the musicological tools, in English, related to the classical music of …

Latin American Art Music Festival: First Movement

Had a great rehearsal with the KU music students last night! Though they may not know this, they are now the “Kansas version” of the Cayambis Sinfonietta. Together, we’ll be performing four pieces from the Americas: Victor Herbert’s Panamericana, Oscar Lorenzo Fernández’s Batuque, O Garatuja by Alberto Nepomuceno, and Alfonso Leng’s La muerte de Alsino. …

Latin American Art Music Festival: Prelude

This is great news! The University of Kansas has organized their first Latin American Art Music Festival! I’m writing about this because I’m very excited to be involved. Over the course of the five-day festival, I’ll be having a busy schedule, including talking to the KU entrepreneurship class about the business of music, conducting a …