Dr. Peter Mcmurray

Biography

Peter McMurray is an accomplished musicologist, saxophonist, and media artist with a focus on the intersection of Islam and sound, particularly within the context of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey. His research includes recitation, liturgy, theology, and architecture, and he is currently finalizing a book and media project titled 'Pathways to God: Islamic Acoustics in Turkish Berlin.' He is co-editing a volume with Priyasha Mukhopadhyay on the histories of sound and media power in the 19th century. His interests encompass global histories of music theory and audiovisual media, especially magnetic audio media from 1890 to 1945, along with the intersections of race and listening. McMurray has engaged deeply in non-fiction audio and video work and previously served as an Assistant Curator for the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature, continuing his research on oral poetry and orality. He is active in the metaLAB at Harvard and has co-convened the 'Auralities' seminar at CRASSH. McMurray completed his PhD in Music at Harvard with a secondary emphasis in Critical Media Practice and has degrees in music composition (MFA), Classics (Greek), and Slavic Literature (BA). He has held postdoctoral fellowships at MIT and Harvard’s Society Fellows and currently leads a research project on Ottoman auralities from 1789 to 1922.

Research Interests

Experience