top of page

Curriculum Vitae

Hicham Chami
​

Born in Tetuan, Morocco,  where the mountains of Jebala rise

Lives & works along the New England coastline 

hicham.chami@yale.edu

Academic Positions

​

2024    Postdoctoral Associate

Yale Institute for Sacred music
Yale University

​​

​

Education

​

2024    Ph.D. Ethnomusicology

Columbia University
Dissertation title: Jebli Music Culture: Soundings from a Moroccan Periphery

​​

2021    M.Phil, Ethnomusicology

Columbia University

            

2018     Master’s in Ethnomusicology

Columbia University

            

2014    Master’s in Music

University of Florida

            

2004    MBA in Strategic Management

DePaul University - Chicago

            

2000    B.S. in Marketing-Communication

ISCAE (Casablanca, Morocco)

            

1995    French Baccalaureate
 in Economics (Maths min.)

Lycée Descartes (Rabat, Morocco)

            

1998    Performance diploma in Qanun


Conservatoire National de Musique et de Danse (Rabat, Morocco)

​

1997    Western Music Theory Certificate


Conservatoire National de Musique et de Danse (Rabat, Morocco)

 
Teaching Experience

​

2019-2023    Instructor: Asian Music Humanities: Musics of

India and West Asia

​

2020-2021   Instructor: Asian Music Humanities: Musics of East Asia

​

Spring 2019    Teaching Assistant 
Asian Music Humanities: Musics of East Asia        

            

Fall 2018    Teaching Assistant
 Asian Music Humanities: Musics of India and West Asia    

            

2014    Lecturer in Professional Development Training for Music and Arabic Educators, al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, Philadelphia, PA        

            

2012 - 2014    Guest lecturer, Middlebury Monterey Language Academy Summer Program in Intensive Arabic, Pomona, CA        

            

2011 - 2012    Lecturer for classroom section of “MUH 2501 - Introduction to World Musics,” University of Florida        

            

2011    Lecturer for online section of “MUH 2501 - Introduction to World Musics,” University of Florida        

            

2010    Presented lectures on Arabic music in conjunction with the Seattle Arab Festival        

            

2010    Instructor of Teacher’s course in Arabic music, al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, Philadelphia, PA        

            

2010    Residency at Western Michigan University that involved presenting seminars and multimedia lecture-demonstrations to college students, Kalamazoo, MI        

            

2008    Residency at Bowdoin College for university faculty and professors, Brunswick, ME        

            

2007    Seminar at Ann Arbor’s University Musical Society intended for teachers and educators, Ann Arbor, MI        

            

2007    Residencies at Lewis University and Illinois Valley Community College, which involved presenting seminars and multimedia lecture-demonstrations to college students, Romeoville, IL        

            

2006    Workshop at Tufts University, which involved presenting seminars and multimedia lecture-demonstrations to college students, Boston, MA        

            

2004 - 2010    Designing the curriculum and teaching music history and theory classes at the Heartland Seminars, a nationwide program that attracted college students and professors from around the U.S. and Canada, Racine, WI        

            

2004 - 2005    Teaching high and elementary school classes at dozens of Chicago-area schools through the Urban Gateways program, Chicago, IL        

            

2003 - 2004    Consulting for a multicultural program at Sullivan High School in Rogers Park, Chicago, IL        

​

​

Professional Experience

​

2012-    

Managing Editor, Journal of Arab Music Research

​

2005-2010

Executive Director, Heartland Seminars (Racine, WI, USA)

​

2002-

Consultant, Arabesque Foundation for Arab Culture (Chicago, IL, USA)

​

2002-2005

General Manager, Xauen Music, Inc. (Chicago, IL, USA)

​

2002 - 2005

Member of the Board of Directors, Genesis at the Crossroads (Chicago, IL, USA)

​

Publications

 

2023    Journal Article 

"Confronting Rouanet’s Colonial Gaze: A Critical Reading of ‘La musique arabe dans le Maghreb’”

In: Turath: Algerian Journal of Cultural Anthropology. Volume 2: July-December 2023. p:15-34

​

2021    Book Review 

Inside Arabic Music: Arabic Maqam Performance and Theory in the 20th Century by Johnny Farraj and Sami Abu Shumays. 2019.
Journal of Folklore Research, 2021

 

2019    Encyclopædia Entries 

Encyclopædia Entries: Andalusian Music, Arab Classical Music, Bashir Brothers (Munir & Jamil), Belly Dance, Darbuka, Cheb Khaled, Malhun, Qanun, Rai, Rebab, Riq, Taqsim 
Music around the World: A Global Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, M. Mihalka and A. Martin, eds. 

​

2018    Journal Article

'The Road Less Travelled’: The Moroccan Malḥūn and the Migration of the Andalusian Muwashshaḥ.” In: Itineraria: Travel Accounts and Knowledge of the World from Antiquity to the Renaissance: 83-100.

​

2018    Book Chapter 

Chami, Hicham. 2019. “Pathways of Cultural Influence: The Intersection of the Muwashshah and Malhun in the Moroccan Soundscape.” In Dialogic Configurations in Post-Colonial Morocco, edited by Najib Mokhtari, 259–81. Rabat, Morocco: Université Internationale de Rabat Publications.

​

2017    Encyclopædia Entries 

Advocacy, Anasheed, Egyptian Music, Muwashah, Orientalism, Representation, Research
SAGE Encyclopædia of Ethnomusicology, J. Sturman, Editor. SAGE Publications: London, United Kingdom

​

2013    Website Review

Archives of Arabic Music 
World of Music (New Series), Vol. ii(1)

​

2013    Book Review 

Thomas Turino, Music as Social Life 
Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 126 (Winter)

 

Grants & Awards

​

2023  The American Institute for Maghrib Studies Fellowship

             for fieldwork in Morocco

 

2023  Professor Howard J. Serwer Fund for TALIM conference

             in Tangier

 

2023  Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies

             funding for a symposium on Jebli Music

 

2022  Columbia University Arts & Sciences Equity and Diversity

             Grant: Diversity Matters 

​

2018  Columbia Humanities Global Projects grant for ICTM

             symposium in Essaouira, Morocco


2017  Jeanne Jeffers Mrad Graduate Student Travel
             Award for MESA’s 2017 annual meeting


2017    T. Temple Tuttle Prize for best student paper
              presented at Niagara chapter of the SEM        

            

2010   Robert N. and Beverly T. Singer School of
             Music Fellowship - University of Florida        

            

2002   Best Instrumentalist” award, Chicago Magazine   

            

1996   Honors Certificate, class of Qanun - National

             Conservatory of Music and Dance. Rabat, Morocco)        

            

1994   First Prize, class of Qanun - National Conservatory of

             Music and Dance (Rabat, Morocco)"

Discography

​

​2015    Words Adorned: Andalusian Poetry and Music

Kareem Roustom, Kinan Abou-afach with The Crossing, Donald Nally, al-Bustan Takht Ensemble and Dalal Abu Amneh       


2015    Words Adorned: Andalusian Poetry and Music (The Concert)

Featured artist with the al-Bustan Takht Ensemble       

            

2013    Rihla: Selections from al-Bustan Concert Series

Featured artist.      

            

2007    al-Fursan at-Talatha

Featured artist, Artistic Director and Producer        

            

2004    Songs of Sayyed Darweesh: ‘Soul of a People’

Featured artist, Executive Director and Producer        

            

2003    Sultana

Featured artist with Yoel Ben-Simhon  

            

2003    A la Una

Featured artist with Sarah Aroeste     

            

2002    Promises

Featured artist and Producer         

            

2002    Verses: Arabic and Jazz Music Fusion

Featured artist with Callen Clarke

bottom of page