Research Fellowship to study music in the Ottoman Empire during WW1

Dr John Morgan O'Connell has recently been awarded a research fellowship by Cardiff University to study music in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

Entitled 'Instruments of War', his proposal reflects a continued interest concerning the role of music in conflict and the place of music in conflict resolution.

Dr O'Connell's 2010 edited collection Music and Conflict (co-edited with Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco) highlights the role of music in both inciting and resolving a spectrum of social and political conflicts in the contemporary world. He has alsowritten on the topic for the journal Ethnomusicology.

This award is consistent with a wider interest within Cardiff University in commemorating the Great War in Wales. Although principally intended to publish materials related to music in the Middle East Campaign (1914-1918), Dr O'Connell's research proposal also envisages establishing a collaborative link between Cardiff University and the National Museum Wales where music is viewed as an integral part of the WW1 Initiative in both institutions. In this matter, he will be assisted by Ms Rachelle Barlow, a scholar at the School of Music who is currently completing her PhD in ethnomusicology on choral music in Wales.

Visit our Music Research Blog to find out more from Dr O'Connell about the project and about music in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.