"Music for Progress": A Study of Pau Casals's Music Institutions in Puerto Rico as an Extension of US Neocolonialism

Debates on postcolonialism and neocolonialism in Latin American musicology and ethnomusicology are embryonic, reflecting socioeconomic asymmetries and an imbalance in academic contributions. This article contributes to the nascent literature by providing a musicological case study of the development of prominent Puerto Rican musical institutions (the Festival Casals, Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, and Puerto Rico Conservatory) as expressions of US neocolonialism. Although Casals's legacy may arguably be praiseworthy in some respects, Festival Casals Inc., tethered to Operacion Serenidad, embodies developmental policies that express US values along political, economic, and cultural lines and are best appraised through postcolonial history.