The Music-Making Subject as Sonic Subject-Territory: An Epistemological Approach from Musical Experience
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Keywords
Music-making Subject , Sonic territory, Epistemology of Music, Musical Experience, Cultural transmission, Situated Knowledge
Abstract
This article proposes a conceptualization of the musicante (the music-making subject) as a “sonic subject-territory,” viewing musical experience as a space through which forms of belonging, memory, and knowledge are configured. It argues that sonic territory is not merely a fixed geographical space but a relational, affective, and performative construct that emerges from musical experience, life trajectories, and processes of cultural transmission. From this perspective, the study challenges institutional cartographies of music and the folkloric-essentialist paradigm, which has historically reified musical practices into static identities and cultural hierarchies. In contrast, the article posits the music-making subject as an agent of meaning who constructs territories and resignifies musical practices through situated experience. As its primary contribution, the notion of the “subject-territory” is presented as both an analytical category and an epistemological proposal. This framework invites a rethinking of the legitimation of musical knowledge, opening the discourse toward a plurality of knowledges within the contemporary musical field.
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Vanessa Jordan Beghelli, Fundación para el Desarrollo Humano y las Artes – Desarrollarte (Cali, Colombia)
Vanessa Jordán Beghelli holds a PhD in Music from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), a Master's degree in Psychology with a research emphasis from the National University of Colombia, and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology with a focus on Education and Culture from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Throughout her academic trajectory, she has received distinctions such as the Honorable Mention for her doctoral dissertation at UNAM, the Scholarship for Outstanding Graduate Students from the National University of Colombia, and the Academic and Human Excellence Award from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.
Her professional experience encompasses musical research, higher education teaching, academic advising at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as project management in the fields of education, arts, and culture. She has actively participated in national and international academic events, and her scholarly output includes peer-reviewed articles, educational booklets, and book chapters focused on music research, education, and cultural transmission.
She served as tiplista and researcher of the Estudiantina at the Instituto Popular de Cultura (IPC), is listed in the Jury Bank of the Stimuli Program of the Colombian Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Knowledge, and has collaborated as a subject-matter expert in Artistic Research and Cultures of Peace within the Sounds for Peacebuilding program led by the Ministry of Culture and UPTC.
Currently, she serves as research project coordinator at Fundación Tamborimba and is a beneficiary of the Minciencias Postdoctoral Fellowship by Missions (Call 934-2023), conducting an ethnographic project within the Science for Peace through Music line, developed at the School of Music of Fundación Canto por la Vida in Ginebra, Valle del Cauca. Since 2006, she has directed the Fundación para el Desarrollo Humano y las Artes – Desarrollarte, an institution affiliated with CLACSO, leading initiatives and partnerships in Santiago de Cali, Bogotá D.C., Mexico, and Montreal. Through the Desarrollarte Research Group—recognized by Minciencias—she promotes research advising, training, musical production, and dissemination.
Germán Darío Pérez Salazar, Universidad Pedagógica Nacional
He began his piano studies at the age of four and continued his training at the Conservatory of Music of the National University of Colombia between 1982 and 1996. He graduated with honors as a Bachelor of Music with an emphasis in Composition from the Francisco José de Caldas District University – ASAB, and earned a Master’s degree in Colombian Music from Universidad El Bosque. His career has been fundamental to the innovation of Colombian Andean Instrumental Music, consolidating a personal style in both composition and performance. He has expanded the sonic possibilities of the genre through a dialogue between tradition and modernity, standing out for his artistic approach and musical excellence. He has an extensive repertoire of instrumental works, many of which have been performed and recorded by various ensembles and soloists in Colombia and abroad, with appearances at venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York and the Southbank Centre in London. His work has been recognized with 33 composition awards in major festivals and competitions across the country, establishing him as one of the most prominent figures in Colombian Andean Music. In 1986, he founded the Trío Nueva Colombia, where he serves as pianist, composer, arranger, and director. With this ensemble, he has renewed the performance of Colombian Andean Instrumental Music, becoming a key reference in the musical history of the country. He has also worked as a university professor in music education programs, contributing his experience in piano, composition, arranging, ensemble direction, and the interpretation of Colombian Andean music. His academic work has supported the training of new generations of musicians, musical research, and the strengthening of traditional repertoire and its integration into academia.
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