Sean Bellaviti
Selected Publications & Presentations
Book
Cumbia, Música Típica and the Rise of Musical Nationalism in Panama. New York: Oxford University Press (forthcoming Fall 2019).
Recent Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
“Panamanian Musical Nationalism: A Critical Historiography.” Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana, 39 (1): 89-121. 2018.
Other Recent Peer-Reviewed Entries
“Salsa.” Oxford Bibliographies. Kate van Orden, ed., Oxford University Press. (Forthcoming)
“Americas.” SAGE Encyclopedia of Music and Culture. Janet L. Sturman, ed. (2019, 4,500 words)
Recent Book Reviews
“Borge, Jason. Tropical Rifts: Latin America and the Politics of Jazz. (Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2019).” European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. (Forthcoming)
“Browne, Kevin Adonis, High Mas: Carnival and the Poetics of Caribbean Culture (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2018).” European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. (Forthcoming)
“Matthew B. Karush, Musicians in Transit: Argentina and the Globalization of Popular Music (Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2017).” Bulletin of Latin American Research, 37 (5): 651-653. 2018.
Recent Conference Presentations
“La Murga de Panamá: Band Rivalries as a Catalyst for Sound Production.” Paper to be presented at the pre-conference portion of the annual meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology (Bloomington, Indiana, USA; November 12, 2019).
“Nicolás Maduro and the Political Dimensions of Salsa in Venezuela.” Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology (Bloomington, Indiana, USA; November 13-16, 2019).
“Cumbia, Tamborito and the Construction of 20th-Century Panamanian National Identity.” Paper presented at Latin American Studies Association (Boston, U.S.A.; May 24-27, 2019).
“Salsa as the Sound of Latin American Immigration to Toronto.” Paper presented at the Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (Toronto, Ontario, Canada; May 10-12, 2019).
“Panamanians on Salsa on St. Clair and the Sound of Nationalism from Abroad.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (Toronto, Ontario, Canada; May 10-12, 2019).
“Danzón-Cumbia: Audible Legacies of Cuban Music in Panamanian Música Típica.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Music (New Orleans, USA; March 20-24, 2019).
Research Interests:
In general terms, my work focuses on the relationship between musical sounds and the ideas and discourses that link them to broader social and cultural collectivities. In particular, my scholarship has centered on the development of musical nationalism, genre studies, the inter-relationships between music, territory, and ethnicity, especially as informed within the Panamanian and broader Latin American context as well as among Toronto’s Latin American community. Similarly, my creative work centers closely within urban Latin American musical traditions and among the communities that sustain them. I maintain an active performance career in Canada and have contributed to numerous community-oriented creative projects.
In addition to my teaching activities at Ryerson, I am a member of the university’s Research Ethics Board and I am an Associate Fellow of the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean at York University.
This year, I was awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council “Insight Grant” for my research on the musical practices of Latin American Immigrant communities in Toronto.