2:00 PM

New Faculty Member Spotlight — César Leal, Interim Director of Orchestral Studies. A Colombian born conductor and musicologist, Leal’s career bridges performance, research, and public scholarship. He is Director of Orchestral Activities and Associate Professor of Music at Gettysburg College, where he has led the Conservatory Orchestra on international tours and coordinates the musicology

Dr. Leal’s talk, Music in Motion, explores what happens when sound travels across borders, cultures, and bodies. Drawing on his research on the cakewalk, which journeyed from African-American communities in the U.S. to the stages of fin-de-siècle Paris, Leal will reflect on how that project opened questions about movement, exchange, and identity. From there, He’ll turn to Cumbia, tracing its roots on Colombia’s Caribbean coast and its circulation across Latin America and beyond. Together, these stories invite students to consider how music in motion reveals histories of migration, cultural dialogue, appropriation, and the ongoing making of identity.

This event is FREE and open to the public. No RSVP required.