Contemporary “Latin American” Composers of Art Music in the United States: Cosmopolitans Navigating Multiculturalism and Universalism

The diverse perspectives of contemporary composers of art music who were born in Latin America and now work in the United States, as well as performers and critics of their music, reveal the various ways that these composers navigate two, sometimes conflicting, popular discourses: multiculturalism and universalism. These composers promote their Latin American identity in a music market that has increasingly embraced ideals of multiculturalism, while competing in music academies that celebrate the autonomous creativity of each composer more than affiliations based on ethnicity or nationality. After introducing theories of multiculturalism, universalism, and cosmopolitanism, with respect to composers Tania León (b. 1943) and Oswaldo Golijov (b. 1960), the article discusses five up-and-coming composers born in the 1970s: Jorge Villavicencio Grossmann, José Luis Hurtado, Felipe Lara, Pedro Malpica, and Mauricio Pauly.