Contents

 

 

News

  • The next Latin American Music Seminar will take place in person at Senate House, London in November 2022. Further details and registration will be available in September 2022. Stay tuned!
  • For updates on upcoming activities in the series, you can subscribe to CLACS Newsletter.

 

 

About Us

The Latin American Music Seminar (LAMS) is a UK-based interdisciplinary forum and network for Latin American music research.  It aims to bring together scholars, students, musicians and interested members of the public to share interest, knowledge, and critical perspectives on Latin American music. The seminar takes a very open and eclectic approach to Latin American Music, welcoming papers on diverse themes, genres and issues, and reflecting a multiplicity of contexts. Presenters and performers include a mix of scholars, research students, and musicians, alongside international visitors and members of the UK Latin American community.

 

 

From its foundation in 2001, LAMS met twice each year on a Saturday (usually in May and November) for a day of five presentations with discussion, always ending with live music. This pattern was disrupted in November 2019 when the seminar took the form of an exciting two day conference on Music Archaeology of Latin America, co-organized with the South American Archaeology Seminar. No seminars were held in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In May 2001 LAMS reconvened in online format for its 20th anniversary seminar and plans to retain its twice annual format (May, November), in online or face-to-face format as pandemic restrictions permit.

If you wish to present a paper, live performance, or to be included on the Latin American Music Seminar email list, please contact Henry Stobart at h.stobart@rhul.ac.uk 

The Latin American Music Seminar (LAMS) was generously hosted for many years by the Institute for Latin American Studies (ILAS) and co-sponsored by the short-lived Institute of Music Research (IMR) of the School of Advanced Study, University of London. We were also especially fortunate to receive superb organizational support from Olga Jimenez (ILAS events manager). Unfortunately, in 2020, the Institute of Latin American Studies was shut down. We are grateful to the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), within the Institute of Modern Languages Research, for its support of LAMS moving forward.     

The LAMS committee consist of:

 

Seminars

LAM seminars have been held twice per year since 2001 (except in 2020). You can explore the topics discussed in each session by following the links below:

 

News archive

  • The next Latin American Music Seminar will take place in person at Senate House, London on Saturday 14th May 2022, from 10.30am (with coffee served from 10.15) to 4.30pm. The programme for the day will be circulated shortly. As ever, the day will end with live music. Further details and registration are available here.
  • The programme of our online 20 November 2021 Latin American Music Seminar is now live. The programme details and information on how to join the seminar are available here.
  • Following the closure of the Institute of Latin American Studies in 2020, the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) has been created within the Institute of Modern Languages Research to continue its activity. We are grateful to CLACS for their kind offer to continue supporting the Latin American Music Seminar.
  • LAMS next seminar series meeting will be held at Senate House on Saturday 24th November 2018, and will conclude with live music from Charange del Norte.  All welcome.  We ask for a contribution of £8.00 towards coffee, tea and lunch (unless giving a paper or performing). Programme and registration available here.
  • LAMS is delighted to be hosting a discussion on Chilean singer-songwriter Víctor Jara's "Revolutionary Masculinities" on Wed 26 September, 5.30-730pm at Senate House.  Professor Daniel Party (Instituto de Música, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) will explore the ways in which Jara's bisexuality shaped some of his career choices and alliances.  Further details and registration are available here.
  • Music and the State in Latin America. LAMS next seminar will be held at the Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, London on Saturday 19th November 2016, co-organised with the Royal Anthropological Institute. 
  • Katia Chornik will launch her new book, Alejo Carpentier: Blurring Genres (Monday 23rd November at 6.30. Instituto Cervantes, 102 Eaton Square, London SW1W 9AN). The event will include live Cuban music by Son Yambu with special guest Sue Miller, and will be followed by drinks. Reserve your seat at reservas.londres@cervantes.es
    Read "When Julio Iglesias played Pinochet's prison", Katia Chornik's piece published in The Guardian on 15 May 2014
  • Before the next Latin American Music Seminar on 2nd November, the LAM team have organised two very exciting one-off events in October: Tue 22 October (5-6pm): Psychedelic Cumbia: From the Amazon to the World (Senate House) and Fri 25 October (3.30-5.30): Diego Laverde Rojas - An exploration of the Colombian-Venezuelan harp and llanera (lowland plains) music (Senate House). We very much hope that you will be able to come along!
  • One-day Conference at the University of Manchester: Musical and Other Cultural Responses to Political Violence in Latin America. 06 December, 9.30 - 6.30, University Place Building, Room 1.218