• A History of Dominican Music in the United States fills a critical gap in the narrative of Latino music in the U.S. A collaborative effort that includes both established and-up-and-coming scholars, the website offers decade-by-decade narratives proceeding from the participation of Dominicans in the broader Latin music scene in the early 20th century to the emergence of distinctively Dominican American sounds, including merengue house and contemporary bachata, in the 1990s and 2000s. Resources include numerous audio examples and biographies for use by educators, and an interactive portal for people to upload their own stories that promises to help the project grow and connect with the lived experiences of Dominicans in the U.S.

  • Shannon Dudley

  • Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Washington, Seattle

  • “This website is a remarkable resource for students, scholars, and all those interested in Latin and especially Dominican music culture. Attractively designed, easy to negotiate, and rich in information, it documents the extraordinary process by which Dominican music went from being a purely island phenomenon to a transnational entity with New York city serving as a new bastion, rivaling the Dominican Republic itself in vitality and creativity.”

     

  • Peter Manuel

  • Professor, Music Department, Graduate Center of the City University of New York

  • "The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute website, A History of Dominican Music in the U.S, is an overdue addition to the story of Latin music in the United States. It illuminates the Dominican genres that have been popularized in the diaspora, such as urban bachata. Moreover, it focuses on key figures ranging from Johnny Pacheco to the many women who were integral participants of the music scene but whose voices and stories were often left out of the larger narrative. Using oral histories, archival material and recordings, this website is an important tool for researchers and all fans of Dominican music."
     

  • Elena Martinez

  • City Lore, Folklorist
    Bronx Music Heritage Center, Co-Artistic Director​

  • “Dominicans are the fifth-largest Latino population in the United States, and the popular influence of Dominican music is now more palpable than ever. For students and afficionados of Latin music, this pioneering website is a timely and important gift – the first resource to expertly synthesize research and documentation covering a century of Dominican music in the United States and present it in an accessible online format. In addition to nuanced histories of merengue and bachata, we learn about Dominican contributions to classical music, salsa and other Latin styles, and about Afro-Dominican traditional and fusion styles present in NYC.  The website’s flexible, collaborative approach signals great potential for new content contributions including personalized narratives, rich ethnographic videos, and additional educational resources.”  

  • Daniel Piper

  • Curator for Latin America, Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, Arizona

  • “Ever wanted to know about Dominican music but didn’t know where to start?  Start here!  In A History of Dominican Music in the United States, the Dominican Studies Institute and its stellar research team have presented us with more than a century of history, music, video, stories, and teaching plans.  Learn about merengue, bachata, Afro-Dominican religious traditions, classical music, signature artists who defined them, and how life in the United States shaped them.  Be part of history yourself by adding your own story!  For great music and a great story, dominicanmusicusa.com is the place!​”
     

  • Daniel Sheehy, Ph.D.

  • Director & Curator Emeritus, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

  • “The Dominican Music USA website represents a unique resource with immensely valuable materials available nowhere else. Few sources exist that foreground the history of Dominican music making in the United States, and only this one has been made accessible online to the public for free. So many materials are available here: compelling period photographs, newspaper clippings, sheet music art, concert posters, hyperlinks to additional readings, to recordings, and videos of live performance. All components vibrantly illustrate the history of Dominican performers and composers and are contextualized by insightful segments of narrative prose on multiple topics. I am especially attracted to the interactive nature of the platform, the ways it allows community members to comment on materials and upload their own.”

  • Robin Moore

  • Editor of the Latin American Music Review and Professor of Music at the University of Texas, Austin.

    Editor and co-author of College Music Curricula for a New Century (Oxford Press, 2017)

  • “Hasta el día de hoy, solo existían registros de relatos parciales, anécdotas, testimonios personales, con limitada documentación, sobre la presencia y el aporte de los artistas dominicanos sobre la música popular dominicana y su difusión en los Estados Unidos. Esta historia de nuestra música en este inmenso país, es un aporte trascendente, único, importante, para todo el mundo, muy especialmente para los dominicanos en Estados Unidos, en el exterior y en la Republica Dominicana. Este es el resultado de una investigación global, objetiva, académica, y sobre todo veraz, desde una perspectiva científica, pedagógica-educativa. Tenemos a mano en este contenido, un esfuerzo trascendente que contribuye a la lucha contra el olvido.”

  • Dagoberto Tejeda

  • Professor of Cultural Studies at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
    Author of Identity and Magic: Folk Dances of the Dominican Republic / Identidad y magia: bailes folklóricos de la República Dominicana (VICINI, 2012), and Vida cotidiana del Santo Domingo colonial (Editora Nacional, 2011), among others.