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Mary Talusan Lacanlale, Ph.D.

Scholar and Ethnomusicologist

Mary Talusan Lacanlale is assistant professor of Asian-Pacific Studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills. She has a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles and specializes in Filipino and Filipino American music and culture.  Her book Instruments of Empire: Filipino Musicians, Black Soldiers, and Military Band Music during U.S. Colonization of the Philippines is published by University Press of Mississippi. She co-edited Our Culture Resounds, Our Future Reveals: A Legacy of Filipino American Performing Arts in California and co-produced Kulintang Kultura: Danongan Kalanduyan and Gong Music of the Philippine Diaspora for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. She performs music and dance of the southern Philippines with the Pakaraguian Kulintang Ensemble.

Contact: mlacanlale@csudh.edu

See me featured in Aria Inthavong’s investigation into the “My Way Killings”!
  • Quoted in the news:
    1. CSUDH on new BA in Asian Pacific Studies link 6 July 2020
    2. Associated Press on Filipino Musicians in Dubai during the pandemic link 15 November 2020
    3. Random Lengths News on Attacks on Asian Americans link 20 April 2021
PKE, Malaya, and KNL featured on Spectrum News (start at 21 mins): link
Talk for Asian American/Asian Research Institute- CUNY Nov. 5, 2021: video link
Listen to Mary and Richard Chu discuss the history of Filipinos in Boston, MA (Released Nov. 5, 2021): link

Podcast New Books in Music, hosted by Kristen Turner, December 2021. link

Talk for Filipinos in Massachusetts on research for upcoming book Filipinos in Greater Boston, 30 May 2021. link
“Reconnect through culture and travel to Mindanao,” Philippine Dance and Culture Organization, Boston, MA, 28 November 2021. link
Masterclass on Research and Critique, University of the Philippines, 24 November 2021
Center for Southeast Asian Studies & Dept. of Anthropology 19 May 2021
Book launch and kulintang performance, Philippine Expressions Bookshop, 20 November 2021
Listen to Titania Buchholdt and Mary Talusan talk about Guro Danny and Kulintang Kultura with Emil Guillermo of amok.com!

Writing and Publications

Teaching

Performance