Cuban-rooted projects among winners of Latin Music Research and Preservation Grants program

The Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation announced the four winners of its Latin Music Research and Preservation Grants program, who will receive a total of $20,000 between projects. The program awards grants to educational institutions, non-profit organizations, musicologists and researchers around the world who are perfecting and preserving the legacy of Latin music.

Among the four grants awarded, with a maximum value of US$5,000 each, are two projects with Cuban roots: one related to the work of Celia Cruz, and the other to that of composer José Mauri Esteve.

To their credit, Research Grants support projects that emphasize historical and anthropological research, as well as documenting Latino traditions and folklore, while Preservation Grants fund the archiving and preservation of Latino music and its unique customs.

As stated by the executive director of the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation Raquel Rocky Egusquiza in a note published on the organization's official website, Research and Preservation Grants play an important role in ensuring the legacy of Latin music and its future creators: "We are grateful to our donors for their generosity and commitment to the advancement of Latin music and its legacy. Together we can increase our impact and support additional worthy projects in furtherance of our mission.

The research grants awarded are detailed below:

Daniel Bustos-Echeverry, Colombia: Cantos de la amazonía no-visible is a musical, ethnographic and archival research project that seeks to highlight the value of the ceremonial songs, melodies and verses of the Siona women. The Siona are an Amazonian indigenous people of less than 4000 inhabitants who, according to the Colombian Constitutional Court, are at risk of disappearing physically and culturally. The research focuses on the analysis of the social conditions that give space to the existence of ceremonial songs, verses and melodies of Siona women, who have been displaced from leadership in yagé ceremonies. The results will be integrated and distributed in a macro-project within the Fulbright Amazonia research program that will promote the establishment of a path towards the preservation of this information.

Dr. Katrin Lengwinat and Carmen Diaz, Venezuela: Through songs and stories from diverse peoples of Latin America, the project Nurturing the Future with Latin American Music and Storytelling seeks to contribute to a future of social and emotional well-being, where love and an awareness of cultural identity contribute to subjectivity and interaction. Dr. Katrin Lengwinat and Carmen Díaz see with concern a tendency towards social isolation and disconnection from cultural heritage due to the accelerated technological development that has brought radical changes in all aspects of human life. The exploration and synthesis of the musical and the literary can contribute to the reconstruction of broken ties in families, schools and communities. Through research, presentations, workshops and recordings of a repertoire of children's stories and songs, they wish to contribute to a harmonious psychosocial development. This project aims to increase the visibility of the continent's artistic legacy, whose cultural richness is not widely known by today's generations, but stimulates emotions and transmits messages of love. Singing, telling and playing Latin American songs rejuvenates our shared history and can awaken the connection for identity and unity.

The Preservation Grants awarded are as follows:

The Celia Cruz Foundation, USA: Celia Cruz, the Queen of Salsa, left a profound mark on music. Her legacy lives on not only in her iconic recordings and riveting performances, but also in a vast archive of more than 200 hours of behind-the-scenes footage of her early collaborations with the Fania All-Stars and other notable figures. From the 1970s through the 2000s, these recordings offer a unique glimpse into Celia's artistic journey and the vibrant music scene of the era. With the project entitled Digitization of Celia Cruz Recordings, 1970s - Early 2000s, its mission is to digitize this valuable collection, preserve it for future generations and make it accessible worldwide to fans, historians and researchers. The project will digitize and preserve approximately 150 to 200 hours of raw Celia Cruz video, comprised of 200 VHS tapes from the early 1970s through the 2000s. The preservation transfers will be digitized at the highest resolution possible for the archival transfer rate, thus honoring Celia Cruz's legacy and preserving her impact on music history.

Javier Soriano, Cuba-France: The compositions of José Mauri Esteve (Valencia, 1855 - Havana, 1937) are of enormous importance not only for Cuba, but also for the broad socio-musical history of Latin America during the 19th and 20th centuries. Over time, the musical heritage of José Mauri Esteve has faced challenges, resulting in significant deterioration that has impeded its study and interpretation. In response, the restoration project José Mauri Esteve: Rescue and Restoration of a Spanish-American Musical Heritage has been created to revive and preserve his invaluable contributions to music. This restoration work comprises several stages, such as critical editions of Esteve's works, the careful reconstruction of lost or damaged musical material, an in-depth analysis of his best preserved compositions, and the creation of a platform for musical restoration in the Latin American context. Through this restoration work, it is planned to honor the legacy of José Mauri Esteve, but also to reaffirm the importance of his musical contributions to Cuba and to the broader Hispano-American musical history. Through preservation and dissemination, it is hoped to foster a greater appreciation and understanding of his rich cultural heritage among audiences around the world.

A committee of experts from Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula and the United States selected the winners from a number of qualified applicants. Since its inception in 2015, the program has awarded more than $195,000 in grants to support projects, one of them a Latin GRAMMY and GRAMMY award winner.