Cristina Pato, Galician bagpiper, musician, writer, producer, and educator, served as King Juan Carlos Chair in Spanish Culture and Civilization at NYU for the 2019-2020 academic year. Dr. Pato organized and hosted a series of public events at the KJCC and taught and interdisciplinary music and culture course titled “The Invisible Music of Northern Spain” during her teaching residency at NYU.

Dr. Pato is the first musician to serve as King Juan Carlos Chair at New York University.

Personal Statement:

"(...)I’ve designed and curated a set of public events using the idea of “invisibility” (inspired by Prof. James D. Fernández) as a way of connecting the dots between the disciplines I’ve worked with over the years, and to address important conversations about the role of the arts in cultural memory, diversity and migration. These conversations I’m bringing to the KJCC at NYU have several facets, and includes a series of talks and lecture-recitals in the Fall’19 as well as a graduate seminar in the Spring’20. Students will explore the links among music, cultural memory and visibility/invisibility, with an eye toward generating genuine and productive dialogue across divides. My experiences as learning advisor for the Silkroad Ensemble, as producer for Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach Project, as well as interdisciplinary educator at Harvard University and the University of California, Santa Barbara has shown me that these dialogues are as necessary as they are feasible." — Cristina Pato