How do songwriters, worship leaders, and music industry professionals collaborate to make music that can become prayer? Ari Y. Kelman explores this question in his excellent study, Shout to the Lord: Making Worship Music in Evangelical America (New York University Press, 2018). Presenting years of research through fieldwork, case studies, and interviews with ... Show More
Nov 15
Lucy Caplan, "Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera" (Harvard UP, 2025)
Recently, musicologists and others have started writing about Black participation in opera. Lucy Caplan’s Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera (Harvard UP, 2025) is a major new publication on this topic. Caplan examines what she calls a Black operati ... Show More
59m 59s
Apr 2025
Anna Maria Busse Berger and Henry Spiller, "Missionaries, Anthropologists, and Music in the Indonesian Archipelago" (U California Press, 2025)
Although the history of Indonesian music has received much attention from ethnomusicologists and Western composers alike, almost nothing has been written on the interaction of missionaries with local culture.
Missionaries, Anthropologists, and Music in the Indonesian Archipelago ... Show More
1h 6m
Mar 2024
Cristina Rocha, "Cool Christianity: Hillsong and the Fashioning of Cosmopolitan Identities" (Oxford UP, 2024)
When did Christianity become cool? How did an Australian church conquer the world and expand into Brazil, a country with its own crop of powerful megachurches?
In her exciting new book, Cool Christianity: Hillsong and the Fashioning of Cosmopolitan Identities (Oxford UP, 2023), ... Show More
1h 4m
Oct 2022
The Clarinet in Arabic Music | Kinan Azmeh
<p>Kinan performed three musical pieces and spoke about his work as a composer.</p><p>Originally from Damascus, Syria Kinan Azmeh is a soloist, composer, and improvisor. He has performed in places such as the Opera Bastille, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Damascus Opera House, and mo ... Show More
1 h
Nov 9
Ed Sheeran: Music Mogul Makes Waves from Spotify to Schools
Ed Sheeran BioSnap a weekly updated Biography.Ed Sheeran has been making international headlines over the past few days, blending music, advocacy, and business in ways few artists manage at his level. Perhaps the biggest headline comes from his high-profile appearance at Spotify’ ... Show More
3m 1s
Jan 2025
Ahmad Kubbara Gives Us a Masterclass in Music Production
<p>Scavenging for synthesizers, digital vs analog music, and what it means to be a music producer in the AI era. This episode of Quartertones features Egyptian music producer Kubbara in our studio in Beirut. Known for his jazz-influenced, neo-soul sound, he gives us a master clas ... Show More
1h 5m
Jun 2023
Hip Hop, the Lahme Song & Making Beats From Old Syrian Vinyls | Thanks Joey
<p>In this episode of Quartertones, Thanks Joey takes us on a journey through hip hop, Brooklyn music, and his Syrian grandfather’s old records. We talk about working with Omar Offendum and Narcy, his music making process, and what inspired his Lahme song.</p><p>He gives us a sne ... Show More
1h 17m