Award will help fund preservation efforts
This week, the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation® announced the winners of its Research and Preservation Grant program. Among the four winners was the Latin American Music Center (LAMC), housed in the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art at The Catholic University of America, which received a $5,000 grant.
This program provides grants to music institutions, nonprofit organizations, musicologists, and researchers around the world who are enhancing and preserving Latin music heritage. The Preservation Grants, with a maximum value of $5,000, fund the archiving and preservation of Latin music and its unique customs.
Funding for the project “Digitizing and Documenting the Collection of The Latin American Music Center at The Catholic University of America” will support necessary ongoing archival and cataloguing work at the LAMC.
“I have received numerous requests from scholars around the world asking for access to the materials that are housed at the LAMC, which evidences the need to digitalize the collection and make it available for research,” says Gustavo Ahualli, LAMC director. “On behalf of myself and the Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art, I would like to thank the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation for this much-needed and appreciated support, which will allow us to make our collection available to musicians, researchers, and scholars for years to come.”
The LAMC for Graduate Studies in Music was created in 1984 in cooperation with the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Music Council, when the University inherited a very exclusive collection of compositions and manuscripts. This collection includes the compilation of a complete and specialized library of scores, books, and recordings of Ibero-American music, making it a special asset to those who study, teach, and perform this music. Through the center, musicians from the Americas come together to investigate, exchange, develop, perfect, and promulgate their musical knowledge and gifts as a means of better understanding one another through mutual respect.
A committee of experts from Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula, and the United States selected the recipients among numerous candidates. The Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation was established by The Latin Recording Academy® to promote international awareness and appreciation of the significant contributions of Latin music and its makers to the world’s culture, and to protect its rich musical legacy and heritage.
“This year marked the most diverse applicant pool for our Research and Preservation Grant program to date,” said Manolo Díaz, Sr. vice president, Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation. He said the organization looks forward to “providing support to these projects that preserve Latin music and its legacy, especially as many organizations are faced with financial constraints.”