Eli Mena

Elizabeth Castillo Mena (also known as Eli Mena) is a Ph.D. student in Ethnomusicology at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include contemporary Afro-Caribbean improvisatory traditions in relation to racial politics. She completed her bachelor’s degree in advertising summa cum laude from Universidad Acción Pro-Educación y Cultura (UNAPEC) and her bachelor’s degree in Contemporary Music magna cum laude with a concentration on Composition, Arranging, Production, and Vocal Performance from Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU). She also studied Jazz Singing at the Hochschule für Musik und Theatre Hamburg as part of the “ISAP” (International Student and Education Partnership) 2021-22. Her research has been presented at the 2024 Society for Ethnomusicology Southern Plains (SEMSP) Conference, University of Oklahoma, and at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM).  

Mena is a 2024-2025 Goizueta Foundation Pre-Prospectus Fellow and has been awarded by the Deutscher Akademischer Austiuschdienst (DAAD), Fundación Universitaria Pedro Henríquez Ureña, and Centro de la Imagen Santo Domingo. Some of her work as a composer and sound designer has been exhibited in the Galería Nacional de Bellas Artes and the Centro de la Imagen of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and at Paréntesis. Relatos desde la incertidumbre, an itinerant exposition at the Red de Centros Culturales de la Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), exhibited in El Salvador, Guatemala, Paraguay, México, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panamá, Uruguay, Perú, Bolivia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Nicaragua, Guinea Ecuatorial, and Spain. She has also independently released her compositions “Gravity” (for jazz quintet), “Agua” (for string orchestra), and “Fuga nro. 2 en E Menor” (for string quartet).