Cristóbal Díaz-Ayala, the distinguished collector of Cuban and Latin American popular music
The Cuban Research Institute, the Latin American and Caribbean Center, and the Libraries at Florida International University are pleased to announce the winners of the 2015 Díaz-Ayala Library Travel Grant competition. This is the tenth round of winners of the grants, designed to increase access to the special collections and archives on Cuba and its diaspora at FIU. Grant recipients will spend several days studying the collections as part of their research and give a lecture during their stay at FIU.
The following scholars will receive funding to travel to Miami to conduct research at the Díaz-Ayala Cuban and Latin American Popular Music Collection and other special collections housed in the Green Library during the spring and early summer of 2015:
- Matthew R. Berger, independent researcher, "La Batería: Jazz and the Drum Set in Cuba"
This research concerns how, when, and by whom the drum set was first incorporated into the musics of Cuba, before it became popular in Havana in the late 1910s and early 1920s. - María Elena Cobas Cobiella, University of Valencia, "The Mario Díaz Cruz Law Collection: Studies and Reflections on the Topic"
The purpose of this project is to elaborate an annotated bibliography of Cuban law, including the principal laws and norms in Cuba during the 20th and 21st centuries. - Benjamin Lapidus, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY), "Como un milagro: The Musical Influence of Juanito Márquez on the Popular Song of Four Continents"
This project will document, catalogue, and analyze the work of Juanito Márquez, a renowned Cuban composer, arranger, orchestrator, producer, and guitarist who has left a profound imprint in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Spain, and the United States.
