The theme of this conference is inspired by an idea expressed by Czech novelist Milan Kundera: "We talked about the astonishing kinship between your vast Latin America and my little Central Europe, the two parts of the world similarly marked by the historical memory of the Baroque, which makes a writer hypersensitive to the seductions of the fantastical, magical, oneiric imagination." (From "An Open Letter to Carlos Fuentes")

While focusing on music, we hope to create a wide-ranging inter-disciplinary dialogue. We invite paper or performance proposals that shed light on relationships between present and past in the cultural products of Hispanic America or Central/Eastern Europe, or on the shared ancestry of these two traditions.

Keynote speakers are Roberto González Echevarría, scholar of Hispanic literature (and Cuban baseball and fiestas), and John Rice, scholar of 18th century music. Musical advisors include Bernardo Illari and Elisabeth Le Guin.

The grand finale, a (very late) Baroque spectacle of 18th century music, drama, and dance, features:

Miserere, Estanislao Miguel Leyseca (Bolivia)
Tonadillas, Pablo Esteve and Blas de Laserna (Spain)
Evakathel and Schnudi, comic tragedy, Philipp Hafner (Austria)

The full conference brochure can be downloaded at www.gvsu.edu/music.

The deadline for proposals is Monday, March 25, 2013. Each presenter will be allowed 20 minutes, with an additional 10 minutes for questions. The primary language will be English, but we will consider exceptions. To submit, send an abstract of not more than 300 words to Professor Lisa Feurzeig (feurzeil@gvsu.edu), Department of Music and Dance,
Grand Valley State University, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401.

The program committee will notify applicants of its decisions before the end of April.