Dr. Nasser Al-Asmar participated in the activities of the 34th Arab Music Festival and Conference, held at the Egyptian Opera House in Cairo, by presenting a specialized academic paper entitled “Media and Academic Criticism of the Arab Singing Voice: Toward a Constructive Scientific Discourse.” Through this paper, Dr. Al-Asmar introduced an academic perspective that opens new horizons for the study, criticism, and evaluation of the Arab singing voice.
The study proposes a scientific approach to developing critical discourse surrounding Arab singing by moving beyond subjective and impressionistic judgments toward a systematic methodology based on clear and applicable criteria that take into account the vocal, technical, expressive, and aesthetic dimensions of singing performance.
One of the study’s key contributions was the development of a specialized scientific assessment form for the Arab singing voice, designed by Dr. Al-Asmar to integrate the philosophy of aesthetics with the elements of vocal formation and the foundations of singing performance. This framework enables the singing voice to be examined as an integrated system in which artistic, vocal, technical, and expressive characteristics interact.
The significance of this contribution lies in its presentation of a practical tool that can be applied in music education, adjudication, and academic criticism, including music institutes, colleges, universities, and judging committees for singing competitions and festivals. It can contribute to establishing more accurate and objective reference standards for evaluating Arab singing voices.
The study also seeks to strengthen the role of criticism as a means of understanding and development rather than merely issuing judgments. It provides performers, students, researchers, and specialists with a framework for identifying vocal strengths and areas of excellence, as well as aspects that require further development, based on scientific and systematic principles.
Dr. Al-Asmar’s participation in this specialized Arab conference reflects the growing presence of Palestinian academic music research in Arab scholarly forums, as well as the role of the Faculty of Fine Arts at An-Najah National University in supporting academic research and connecting scholarly knowledge with artistic practice. It also highlights the Faculty’s contribution to strengthening the position of music and music studies within contemporary research and development.
This participation further underscores the importance of advancing Arab singing criticism toward a scientific discourse grounded in knowledge, analysis, and methodology, in a way that preserves the artistic and aesthetic value of Arab singing while supporting the development of its performance, education, and evaluation according to more comprehensive and objective standards.
