European Research Council grants awarded to Maqām music project and Zoroastrian ritual analysis
Two SOAS University of London researchers have been awarded European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grants.
The ERC, which aims to support cutting-edge research in a wide range of fields, announced the funding to SOAS as part of a series of grants to outstanding research leaders across Europe.
SOAS is the only university in the UK to receive multiple Advanced Grants for Social Sciences and Humanities in this year’s round of funding.
The SOAS researchers Almut Hintze, Zartoshty Brothers Professor of Zoroastrianism, and Rachel Harris, Professor of Ethnomusicology, will receive almost €2.5 million each for their research projects.
Professor Hintze research project will examine the prehistoric oral culture of the Indo-Iranians. The project, Avestan Ritual in India (AVINDIA,) will analyse how the ritual activities performed by Zoroastrian priests in India are structured and track the historical changes in how the ritual is understood in India by unlocking the Sanskrit version of the Avestan recitation text.
Pictured: Professor Almut Hintze.
Professor Hintze said: “I am absolutely delighted to receive my second Advanced Investigator Grant from the European Research Council. I am most grateful to the funder for making the proposed research possible. The funding will be used to produce a film of the Visperad ceremony, which is one of the most endangered heritages of the Zoroastrian religion.”
Professor Rachel Harris will lead a project on maqām, a musical tradition found across Western and Central Asia, and explore what happens when such forms of music break free from the ‘national culture’ - particularly when musicians are violently expelled from a country or flee from war or repressive regimes.
The project Maqām Beyond Nation will take place in collaboration with Ça Foscari University in Venice. It will focus on the Iran-Azerbaijan border, across the former Soviet-Chinese divide, with Iranian musicians inspired by Arab rhythms, and contemporary Turkish musicians who reimagine the diversity of the Ottoman repertoire.
Professor Harris said: “I am completely delighted that we've won this award. I'm very grateful to the team in our research office who worked incredibly hard with me on the proposal, and I'm excited to be working with this group of outstanding researchers.”
Pictured: Professor Rachel Harris.
