I am a Chilean musicologist who specializes in music of Latin America and the Latino communities in the United States. I am particularly interested in the ways in which popular music works in postnational contexts, how it can inform transformations in masculinity, and the roles apolitical pop music plays under authoritarian regimes. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 with a dissertation titled “Bolero and Balada as the Guilty Pleasures of Latin American Pop.”

Currently, I am doing research on pop music in Spain during the late Franco dictatorship (1965-75) for a new chapter of my book manuscript. The chapter focuses on “canción ligera” (lite song), a genre of cosmopolitan popular music that emerged during the late Franco years. Known for its purposefully apolitical lyrics and lush orchestral accompaniment, “canción ligera” was best exemplified by singers such as Raphael, Julio Iglesias and Mari Trini. I consider how “canción ligera” might provide an alternative understanding of this transformative period in Spanish culture, one that goes beyond the traditional focus on protest song and its impact on the transition to democracy.