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Lecture/Presentation/Talk

Ron Alexander Memorial Lectures in Musicology: Cesar Favila, UCLA

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Topic: Race, Virginity, and the Musical Lives of Nuns in New Spain

Abstract: This talk reveals how the concepts of virginity and race, introduced by Spanish authorities, complicated the musical lives of New Spanish nuns. Starting with reflections on the Magnificat antiphon O Sapientia, located in a Mexico City convent chant book, I investigate the phenomenon of the Virgin Mary’s characterization as sound—God’s voice—in nuns’ music and devotional books to demonstrate how male clergy controlled women religious through the vow of obedience in order to preserve the colonial patriarchy.

Cesar Favila is associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Musicology at UCLA. His work focuses on Mexican music, ranging from colonial New Spain to the contemporary Chicano experience, and often residing at the intersections of music, religion, gender, and race. His research has been funded by grants and fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, among others. His work with early music ensembles has been honored with the American Musicological Society’s Noah Greenberg Award. He received his PhD in music history and theory from the University of Chicago and Bachelor of Arts in Music from UC Davis.

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  • Free admission

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