New book out! The Oud: An Illustrated History

“Musician Beckles Willson (Orientalism and Musical Mission) scrupulously traces the history of the oud—a short-necked, fretless stringed musical instrument—from its first written mention in ancient Persia to the present day. An instrument long associated with bereavement (an early fable holds that a grieving father constructed it from his deceased son’s Read more…

New release on NMC Records

I am thrilled to have my composition Teatime! presented as the first track on NMC’s CD release In These Exceptional Times. In November 2021 NMC launched The Big Lockdown Music Survey, an Arts Council England National Lottery Funded project which invited music creators from across England to submit recordings of music Read more…

New professorship

As of 1 December 2022 I am Professor of Intercultural Performing Arts at Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam, and the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts in Leiden. This is a fantastic opportunity to draw together the multiple strands of my hybrid creative practice, and work with a Read more…

Iranian oud

For a long time the oud was disparaged in Iran, even though the Sassanian empire was fundamental to its development centuries ago. One key to its twentieth-century revival was the musician Mansur Nariman. I recently recorded some of his short pieces.