Sacred Offerings: Musical Dialogues of Interfaith - March 29, 2025

The development of Hindustani, the classical music tradition of North India, in the United States helps to “preserve and promote” the art form. However, it has not been “practiced and created” in the context of interfaith studies. The recontextualization of Hindustani music in academia has provided a space for Mirāsī (under-represented musician communities) to examine purity and the practice of building community. For Mirāsīs, Hindustanimusic has been carrying the centuries-old colonialist and nationalist stigma that is prevalent even today. Despite playing a central role in Hindustani music for much of the 20th century—offering inclusive and interfaith music-making—Mirāsīs continue to endure cultural obscurity and downward social mobility. This event brings together experts in South Asian music and beyond to discuss and perform a range of diverse musical styles, including Qawwālī (South Asian Sufi songs), Khyāl (pre-modern Indian classical songs), Ashkenazi Jewish liturgical Nusach(a musical style or tradition), Bhajan (Hindu devotional songs), and the mystical music of Abbess Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). Navigating such musical styles brings the theologies of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism into dialogue from a range of hierarchical, material, social, historical, and aesthetic perspectives.

This event is convened by ISM Fellow Suhail Yusuf.

Co-sponsored by the ISM and Yale South Asian Studies Council.

Speakers and Performers:

Vishal Nagar
Henry Hodder
Marni Loffman
Samarth Nagarkar
Dard Neuman
Ameera Nimjee
Suhail Yusuf