Posts by admin
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Saeid Kordmafi Delivers Lecture at the Research Institute of Cultural Studies and Intangible Cultural Heritage, Uzbekistan
On 10 September 2025, Dr. Saeid Kordmafi, Co-Investigator of the Maqam Beyond Nation project, delivered an online lecture as part of the Scientific and Practical Lecture Series at the “Research Institute of Cultural Studies and Intangible Cultural Heritage” under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The lecture, titled “Where Is the Maqam World? An Introduction to Classical Musics of the Islamic World” aimed to establish a general […]
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Professor Owen Wright Receives the 2025 British Academy Derek Allen Prize
Maqam Beyond Nation is proud to share that Professor Owen Wright, esteemed member of our Advisory Board and Emeritus Professor of Musicology of the Middle East at SOAS University of London, has been awarded the 2025 Derek Allen Prize by the British Academy. This prestigious award, presented annually in rotation across the fields of musicology, numismatics, and Celtic studies, recognizes outstanding scholarly contributions. This year, it honours Professor Wright for his […]
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“Capturing Practice” by Mukaddas Mijit and Rachel Harris
Mukaddas Mijit and Rachel Harris discussed the process of repertoire selection and rehearsal leading up to the concerts at the ADPRex “Capturing Practice” conference in Singapore in August 2025. Their discussion focuses on the research potential of film to capture processes of creativity in musical encounters across borders.
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Symposium in Baku April 2026
“Maqam Beyond Nation” is organizing an international symposium together with Azerbaijan National Conservatory, and the ICTMD Study Group on Maqām. This symposium will be focused on both historical and current connections between Azerbaijani mugham and cognate maqam branches in the Middle East, Central Asia, and beyond. The symposium will take place on April 29-30, 2026, at the Azerbaijan National Conservatory in Baku, and will function as the 12th Symposium of the ICTMD Study Group […]
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“Chegra Bilmas Maqom”A collaboration on Central Asian Maqām across Borders
by Rachel Harris On stage at Ala Space, Almaty. Photo by Mukaddas Mijit In October 2025, we brought together a group of musicians from Tashkent and Almaty for two concerts based on a creative exploration of maqām traditions from Central Asia. Abror Zufarov (vocals, sato), Guzal Muminova (dotar) and Sherzod Nazarov (doira), all teachers at the Yunus Rajabi Institute in Tashkent, have been working with Almaty-based independent musicians, Saniyam Ismail […]
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Visit to the Yunus Rajabi Institute
Photo: A first-year instrumental ensemble, directed by Shahmahmut In March 2025, Rachel Harris and Mukaddas Mijit visited the Uzbek National Institute of Musical Arts Named After Yunus Rajabi in Tashkent and were treated to a tour of the Institute’s departments as well as some outstanding performances by current students and teachers. Clip: Students of Malika Khanum perform an ensemble dotar piece (excerpt) Established in 2020, the primary purpose of the […]
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Visit to the Farg’ona Maqom School and the Marg’ilan Maqom Theatre
With members of the Marg’ilan Maqom Theatre In April 2025, Rachel Harris and Aziz Isa Elkun were generously hosted by the Maqom School led by Ulug’bek Mamadjanov, and the Maqom Theatre led by Fazil Ismailov. Both are recently established, on the foundation of existing music institutions, but with a new focus on maqom. The Maqom School holds several hundred students of school age, and several dozen talented teachers who are […]
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“They Took the Heart of Mugham!”
“They Took the Heart of Mugham!” Azerbaijani Musicians Finding Authenticity in Iranian Traditions by Polina Dessiatnitchenko The performance is remarkable for many reasons. On the centerstage of the Mugham Center in Baku, Azerbaijan, singer Fergana Gasimova is sitting cross-legged, and as she sings, her body sways sideways, her eyes close in ecstasy, her arms thrust upward, and her head moves poignantly to the well-defined poetical meters. Instead of the usual Azerbaijani instruments, […]
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Strand 7: Bastakor and maqām-based creativity in Uzbekistan
Eugene Leung This strand explores creativity in Tajik-Uzbek ‘national’ music through the figure of the bastakor, the creator of new works in traditional styles by drawing on the maqām traditions of Bukhara, Khorezm, and Ferghana-Tashkent, as well as more popular genres influenced by them. Although these maqām repertoires are viewed as closed, manybastakor compositions are recognised as extensions that sustain the tradition’s vitality. This practice of creative adaptation has endured from the […]
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Connecting through Nava
by Mukaddas Mijit Connecting through Nava: Documenting Shared Musical Heritage with Uzbek and Uyghur Musicians in Tashkent, March 2025 In March 2025, we embarked on a one-week field trip exploring the connections between Uzbek Maqam and Uyghur Muqam practices with few outstanding musicians. Our journey led us to the Yunus Rajabi Institute of Traditional Music in Tashkent- a landmark institution for Uzbek musical heritage. For this initial phase of our project, we […]