In recent years, the Haitian Creole song “​“Lisette quitté la plaine” has become a major part of baritone/scholar Jean-Bernard Cerin’s professional life. In this episode of SalonEra, Jean-Bernard traces the history of this song text and explores how the song shifts in meaning as it travels around the globe and is transformed by different musical communities. Through Jean-Bernard, “Lisette” becomes a lens through which we can explore the dynamic, fraught history of Haiti and its occupiers.

SalonEra partners with GRAMMY-nominated tenor Nicholas Phan to probe the question “Is Bach’s music for everyone?” Drawing on tenor arias and interviews captured for Phan’s BACH 52 project, Nicholas, Debra Nagy, and a range of community members reckon with the complex social history of Bach’s music as well as its enduring resonance in their lives. Join us for this heartfelt and deeply personal exploration centered on one of the titans of baroque music: J.S. Bach.

Latin American Music Nationalism is often understood as a 20th-century movement represented by composers such as Silvestre Revueltas (Mexico), Alberto Ginastera (Argentina) and Heitor Villa-Lobos (Brazil) among others. In this episode, SE favorite Karin Cuellar-Rendon and the Ximenez Quartet trace the early nation-building efforts of 19th-century Latin American composers Pedro Ximénez Abril Tirado (Bolivia-Peru), José Bernardo Alzedo (Chile), and Chiquinha Gonzaga (Brazil) who integrated elements of the European classical tradition with local musical genres.