The Centro Cultural León Jimenes (Centro León) is a museum and cultural institution in Santiago, Dominican Republic, whose mission includes the development of ethnomusicological research in the country. Some of its programs relate directly to merengue típico.
1. The biannual, trilingual series of conferences entitled Música, identidad, y cultura en el Caribe has encouraged research on the topic, particularly in its first (2005) and fifth (2013) editions, focused on merengue and folk traditions respectively. The proceedings for some of these conferences can be viewed in snippet form on Google Books. All can be ordered through the Centro León or INEC, the Instituto de Estudios Caribeños.
- El merengue en la cultural dominicana y del Caribe (MIC1)
- Folclore musical y danzario del Caribe en tiempos de globalización (MIC5), not yet published, but see info here
- Also note Sydney Hutchinson’s paper on improvisation in merengue tipico, given at MIC 4, El jazz desde la perspectiva caribeña (2011), contents here
2. Promoting research in Dominican ethnomusicology: see brochure
3. Summer course on Dominican music and ethnomusicology. Sydney Hutchinson and the Centro León have developed this course cooperatively, and it is open to both Dominican and international students at the undergraduate and graduate level. learn more about – or register for – this unique, hands-on course here:
- Centro León site featuring students’ research into the Fiesta de San Antonio de Cañandré during the 2012 course
- Syracuse University site for Caribbean Music Journey: Dominican Routes
4. If you are going to be in Santiago, be sure to check out the Centro’s calendar of activities!
Merengue Típico 
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