The Oud: An Illustrated History
Rachel Beckles Willson, Professor of Intercultural Performing Arts at ACPA in Leiden University and Codarts in Rotterdam, will launch her new book on the 4th of December at 19:30, The Oud: An Illustrated History, and performs a concert with guest artists Emine Bostancı and Nizar Rohana.
The concert will present a wide range of styles of music in which the oud has a role, including repertoire from the Ottoman court, rural communities of Armenia, and today’s urban centres around the world. Interspersed with the music will be a conversation between Nizar Rohana and Rachel Beckles Willson about the research that led to the book.
The Oud: An Illustrated History emerges from over a decade of Rachel’s studies as an oud player and composer, and her collaborations with oud players, oud collectors, museum curators and luthiers. She presents the oud’s history here in the context of its visual beauty, sharing numerous pictures of its elegant pear-shaped body, intricate rosettes and ravishing ornamental veneers. Stunning illustrations and photographs showcase the oud’s varying forms and styles over time, while the oud‘s alluring sounds can also be heard by following QR codes in the book.
For more about the research that led to the book, visit www.oudmigrations.com. Copies of the book will be available to purchase, and later from online platforms.
Free admission, please register for this event by sending an email to acpa@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
