UC Davis Department of Music Professor Juan Diego Díaz has been awarded the Helen Roberts Prize by the Society of Ethnomusicology for the most significant article in the field of ethnomusicology published in the previous year. Diaz received his prize for his article “From Claves Ethnotheory to Clave Theories: A Path Toward Decolonizing Music Analysis,” which was published in the journal Ethnomusicology, the flagship journal in Ethnomusicology. 

The prize recognizes the most significant article in ethnomusicology written by members of the Society for Ethnomusicology after the first 10 years of their scholarly career. The article must have been published during the previous year in Ethnomusicology, another journal, or an edited collection.

The University of Illinois Press has made the article “From Clave Ethnotheory to Clave Theories: A Path toward Decolonizing Musical Analysis” open access from Nov 1, 2025, until January 31, 2026, as part of their AMS/SMT virtual exhibit. Here’s the link for free download.