We are delighted to announce the inauguration of the IMS Study Group “Opera and the Spanish Empire (1600–1900),” chaired by Francesco Milella González Luna (ES). Below is an excerpt from the mission statement:

This study group builds upon a debate first initiated during the conference “Opera and the Spanish Empire: Genres, Encounters, and Translations (1600–1900),” which was organized at the School of Music, University College Dublin, in July 2025. On that occasion, scholars from Europe, North America, and South America engaged for the first time in a transnational debate on issues such as the definition of opera versus zarzuela within the Spanish imperial sphere; the challenges of representing the conquest of Mexico and Peru on stage; the influence of nineteenth-century positivism on the Spanish musical gaze toward the former colonies; and the operatic connections between the Spanish and Portuguese Americas, among others. The conference underscored the need for an ongoing critical debate aimed at reconceptualizing these diverse operatic phenomena as components of a broader political and cultural system whose legacies continue to shape the present.

Visit the study group page for the full statement and further details.