Hicham Chami earned his Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from Columbia University, specializing in the indigenous musical traditions of the Jebala region in Northwest Morocco. His dissertation explored the cultural and historical impacts of colonialism and neo-colonialism on Jebli music, examining factors of cultural hegemony and marginalization within broader Moroccan musical and societal contexts. His scholarship provides a valuable framework to investigate the relationship between music and spirituality, particularly through the continued use of indigenous music in sacred contexts, which highlights the intricate interplay between these spheres. As an ISM fellow, his research includes two compelling case studies that reveal the coexistence of sacred and profane elements in Jebli music, offering insights into modalities of ecstasy and enlightenment: the Moulay Abdesslam mūssem at Jbǝl l-ʿlām and the Ḥarrāqī Tariqa in Tetuán.
Chami’s latest scholarly contributions comprise an article in Turath—The Algerian Journal of Cultural Anthropology, a chapter in Dialogic Configurations in Post-Colonial Morocco—Rhetorical Conjectures in Arts, Culture and Politics, and various entries in the SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture. His reviews of Arab and Maghrebi scholarly literature have appeared in The World of Music, Journal of American Folklore, and Journal of Folklore Research. Chami is a frequent presenter at conferences of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Middle East Studies Association, and the International Council for Traditional Music.