The Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies is pleased to award Nathan Juarez $3,000 through the 2026 CLLAS Graduate Research Grant for his project, Cycles and Spheres: Documenting New Music for Voice and Percussion by Latin American and Diasporic Composers. Juarez is a graduate student in Music whose work brings together percussion performance, music theory, and Latin American and diasporic musical traditions.
His project focuses on recording and sharing newly commissioned works for voice and percussion by composers including Susie Ibarra and Felipe Lara. Through professional studio recordings, video documentation, and post-production, Juarez’s work will help make this new repertoire available beyond live performance, reaching performers, scholars, students, and broader audiences.
By centering percussion, voice, rhythm, movement, and hemispheric musical practices, Cycles and Spheres expands traditional ideas of art song, which has often centered European languages, aesthetics, and voice-and-piano pairings. With CLLAS support, Juarez’s project highlights the creativity of Latin American and diasporic composers while contributing to the documentation of contemporary music rooted in transnational cultural identities.