Copland as Good Neighbor

This chapter details Copland’s role in the Office of Inter-American Affairs (OIAA), a governmental agency headed by Nelson Rockefeller to advance the Good Neighbor Policy. Copland served its music committee, which took stock of German and Italian infiltration into Latin American musical circles. Despite the OIAA’s heavy-handed approach, he found the musical aesthetic it informally promoted—folkloric and identity-conscious—compatible with his evolving concept of “New World music.” This chapter details Copland’s projects on behalf of Latin America before the 1941 tour: choosing repertory representative of the United States, establishing a scholarship program for young Latin Americans at the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood), and other activities. I also address cultural diplomacy and race, the fraught reality of which Copland would encounter during his 1941 tour.