The Guatemalan national committee began operations in early 2009 under the initiative of Matthias Stockli, a researcher at the Centro de Estudios Folkloricos of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. He received a doctorate in ethnomusicology from the University of Zurich and has lived in Guatemala since 1997, where he has taught at some of the country’s leading universities. In 2006, he co-edited the first ever written compilation of articles dedicated entirely to ethnomusicological research in Guatemala, and since 2008 he is co-editor of the journal Senderos: Revista de etnomusicologia, dedicated mainly to the music cultures of Guatemala and Central America.

Only a few months after the establishment of the Guatemalan committee, the pianist and musicologist Eduardo Plaza embarked on a similar venture in Venezuela, thus leading the way to a more comprehensive coverage of that country’s rich musicological and ethnomusicological tradition. Eduardo Plaza studied piano and musicology in Strassbourg, France, and returned to Venezuela in 1998. Currently, he is a researcher at the Universidad Central de Venezuela and professor at the Universidad Simon Bolivar, where he also pursues a doctorate in literature. He is a member of the editorial board of the online periodical Musicaenclaves, which, together with the Revista musical de Venezuela, will form the initial core of publications to be entered in RILM on a regular basis.