Research Catalogue

activities

• Doctor of Arts (2013) connected to: Polifonia
  Degree: Doctorate, Leiden University (Netherlands), Orpheus Institute (Belgium), recipient: Nizar Rohana
  
• Composing “improvisations”: the taqasim genre as a framework for solo oud compositions
  Polifonia project, Principal Investigator: Nizar Rohana
  My goal in this artistic research project is to compose new music for oud solo taking thetaqasim (instrumental solo improvisation in Arabic music) genre as a framework. In order to realise this goal I will first have to investigate the taqasim recordings by the leading figures of oud playing in the 20th century. By analyzing, interpreting and performing their taqasim I hope to acquire a deep knowledge of the artistic processes that define the taqasim genre, gain more insight to conceptualize them, develop my own improvisation skills, and enrich my performance repertoire. Additionally, I intend to develop a pedagogical method for oud taqasim. With this multi-faceted project I hope to substantially contribute to the practice, pedagogy and knowledge of the taqasim genre and compositional techniques of Arabic instrumental music.