King's College London

King Edward Professor of Music, Professor Martin Stokes, has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced grant for his project ‘Beyond 1932: Rethinking Musical Modernity in the Middle East and North Africa’.

The grant will provide five years of funding for the project and will allow Martin to lead a team working in the intersections of cultural history, ethnomusicology and performance, thinking through music's complex place in the struggles over modernity across the Middle East and North Africa region. It also means some new potential synergies across the Music Department and across Arts and Humanities.

'I am of course delighted and immensely excited,' Professor Stokes said.

'Though I would say the dominant feeling, which is only just beginning to wear off, has been one of relief. The support from Arts and Humanities Research Development was unbelievably extensive and constantly transformative, from clarifying the critical stakes of the argument, to nailing down the budget, to preparing for the interviews and to, well, a million details. A very great many people were involved, generously providing time, expertise and critique. And this was my second time round with this proposal,” he continues, “In terms of where I am in my career now this is all very timely, and the award really is a huge privilege.'

The grant will provide £1.8 million in funds, provided by the European Research Council. The ERC announced the winners of its 2021 Advanced Grants competition on 26 April 2022. The funding, worth in total €624.6 million, will go to 253 leading researchers across Europe.