Staff Report
The recently appointed head of the Arts of Americas Institute within UNM's College of Fine Arts said he believes that performance and research make beautiful music and that he plans to carry the institute's tune even further.
"I don't like to separate the academic from the artistic," said Steve Loza in a UNM press release. "Teaching and research are important, but if you don't engage the public, then you can't get the work out into the community."
Loza, a faculty member at UCLA for 17 years who is taking a leave of absence for two years to direct the institute is also a professor in UNM's Department of Music, specializing in Latin American and U.S. Latino musical culture said there is no such thing as just the Americas anymore.
Loza, who speaks three languages and understands two more, added that artistic expression furthers a grassroots exchange of culture worldwide.
"We have to continue to develop work that is going on in the hemisphere - we have to erase the borders - first the ones down here and then those around the world," Loza said. "If there is to be true globalization, it's going to happen through the arts, not economics or politicization."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
At UCLA, he has directed the Mexican Arts Series since 1985 and participated in numerous performances and lecture activities. He is also a member of the Grammy Awards National Screening Committee.
One of Loza's first projects will be developing a joint UNM/UCLA international, interdisciplinary research conference held next spring on both campuses. The project's working title is "Toward a Theory for Religion as Art: Guadalupe, Buddha, Orishas and Sufi."
"We will look at how art is used as a very basic element of religion," Loza said.
Other immediate plans for the institute include collaborations with the Hispanic Cultural Center and actor and art collector Cheech Marin, Loza said.
In 1991, the UNM College of Fine Arts created the Arts of Americas Institute to celebrate diverse cultures and traditions of the Western Hemisphere, explore artistic similarities and differences, enhance the artistic process by crossing cultural and national boundaries and create long-term relationships that promote future interaction.
The institute's performance and educational projects have featured guests from around the world. It also has had the support and participation of individuals and organizations throughout the community and on campus.
Loza earned his bachelor's degree in music from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. At UCLA he earned his master's degree in American Studies in1979 and his doctoral degree in Ethnomusicology in 1985. He is the author of numerous books, anthologies and articles, and has produced a record and led several recordings.
Loza has also conducted extensive research on Latin American music, especially the musical culture of Mexico, Cuba and the United States. In 1996-97 he taught at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan, and, in 1989, he taught at the University of Chile's School of Music.
