Epilogue

Abstract

Abstract This Epilogue summarizes salient political and cultural events in Cuba since 1991 and their effects on the classical music scene. It begins with the impact of the período especial on a younger generation of Cuban composers, many of whom left Cuba to pursue professional careers elsewhere. It discusses how new technologies and changing relations between the US and Cuban governments have allowed for greater ease of cultural exchanges than in the three preceding decades. The chapter takes into account how the Cuban State’s policies affect the music industry: from a proliferation of independent music studios and labels after the legalization of small private businesses to the repressive measures of Decreto 349 and the subsequent backlash. This section closes with a reflection on Benitez Rojo’s The Repeating Island as a framework for understanding the cyclical patterns in Cuban music history and the challenging of Western teleological historical narratives that have overlooked many of the composers and works explored in this book.