Dr. Albert Agha | American University of Sharjah
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Profile

College / Department

College of Arts and Sciences
Performing Arts Program

Teaching areas

Music, Ethnomusicology, Music Education, Performance in Arab Music, Anthropology of Music, Musicology, Music Theory, Arab, Turkish, and Persian Music History

Research areas

Music and Diaspora, Music of Southeast Asia, Music of the Arab world, Transnationalism and music, Music and digital media, Sound studies in Arab culture, Music and religion, Contemporary Expressions of religion

Education

PhD, Ethnomusicology, University of California Los Angeles, 2019
MM, Music, Northern Illinois University, 2013
Bachelor, Business, University of Massachusetts, 2009

Professional experience

Adjunct Lecturer, Music, North Park University, 2018 - 2019
Adjunct Professor, Music, Northern Illinois University, 2018 - 2019

Memberships

International Council for Traditional Music, ICTM, International, Scholarly organization dedicated to the study, practice, documentation, preservation, and dissemination of traditional music and dance worldwide.
Society for Arab Music Research, SAMR, International
Society for Ethnomusicology, SEM, International, The Society for Ethnomusicology is a global, interdisciplinary network of individuals and institutions engaged in the study of music across all cultural contexts and historical periods., 2016

Contact

[email protected]

Dr. Albert Agha

Assistant Professor
PhD, University of California Los Angeles,

Albert Nasser Agha earned his Ph.D from UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, studying under the direction of renowned professor and composer A.J Racy. As an accomplished performer of the classical Arab repertoire, Agha has performed at many notable venues such as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Berklee Music Center in Boston, Chicago Cultural Center, and the Montreal Festival for the Arab world. As a scholar of ethnomusicology, Agha's areas of interest include music and Islam in contemporary Southeast Asian societies, where he has conducted extensive fieldwork among Indonesian Muslims in Java. His other areas of interest include contemporary aesthetics of Arab music, and the music of the Arab diaspora.

Publications

Albert Agha, Anne Rasmussen, Jared Holton And Anne Elise Thomas. Heterophonic Mayhem in the Archive: Animating Musical Artifacts from the Arab World Diaspora., Musicultures, December 2024
Albert Agha. Ole & Trufa, 8 May 2024
Albert Agha. Music at the Iraqi Royal Court
Albert Agha. Al-Mizan music group and the State Islamic University in Yogyakarta, Ethnomusicology Review

Conference Presentations

“Under the Covers: Exhuming New/Old Music from the Grooves of 78 Records in the Public Domain”, The Music Of America Concert Series, 5 June 2024
“The Quranic Recitation and Maqamat”, 23 April 2024
Under the Covers: Exhuming new/old music from the grooves of 78 records in the public domain, Society For Ethnomusicology Annual Conference, 19 October 2023
Liberal Arts in the Contemporary World, Cas Humanities Working Group, March 2023
The Maqam and the Taqsim: Improvisational Strategies for the Music Student, Northern Illinois University School Of Music, 12 October 2022
"Negotiating Modernity through Islamic Music: Sunan Kalijaga Legacy in Yogyakarta.”, Southeast Asian Studies Program, 2018
Dawah through Musicking: al-Mizan Music Group and State Islamic University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Society For Ethnomusicology Conference, 2017
Performing the Modern Dawah: Indonesian Islamic Music in Yogyakarta, Southeast Asian Center Colloquium Series, 2017
The Sounds of Islam Nusantara, Society For Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting, November 2017
Introduction to Middle Eastern Music, 2016
Introduction to traditional Arab music for music educators at K-12 levels, clinical session, Illinois Music Educators Association (imea) All-state Conference, 2013
Introduction to Arab musical culture, Wabaunsee Community College, 2012

Grants and sponsorships

Grant, Graduate Research Mentorship, UCLA, 2016 - 2017
Fellowship, Foreign Language and Area Studies, UCLA, 2015 - 2016

Awards and Honors

Herb Alpert School of Music Departmental Scholarship Award, UCLA, Award provides financial assistance to students within the School of Music who demonstrate exceptional talent, academic achievement, and promise in their field of study., 2018
Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Award, UCLA, The award is designed to facilitate close mentorship between graduate students and faculty members, allowing students to focus on their research projects, develop their skills, and make progress toward their degrees, 2017
Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, UCLA, Federally funded program in the United States aimed at supporting undergraduate and graduate students in pursuing language studies, particularly in less commonly taught languages, 2015
Gluck Fellowship Music Outreach Program, UCLA, Fellowship that provides UCLA students in the arts with the opportunity to share their artistic talents and skills with the community. Funded by the Maxwell H. Gluck Foundation,, 2014
Foreign Language Studies Fellowship (Bahasa Indonesia), Northern Illinois University, Federally funded program in the United States aimed at supporting undergraduate and graduate students in pursuing language studies, particularly in less commonly taught languages., 2012

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