We are thrilled to share the news that this year's winner of the Rob Schultz Junior Scholar Award is BFE Member and previous BFE Fieldwork Award winner Saeid Kord Mafi (SOAS, University of London). Tabrik migam Saeid!

Saeid has won this prestigious award for his paper "Īqā‘: a Canon to Respect or Break? Rhythm-Making Strategies in Composition and Improvisation in Classical Music of the Arab Mashriq". The winning article was delivered at the AAWM 2018 conference in Thessaloniki, Greece, and will be published in a forthcoming issue of the AAWM journal, with the author also receiving a modest cash award from a memorial fund in Rob's name. 

The Rob Schultz Junior Scholar Award is open to presenters at the biennial AAWM conference who are graduate students, or young scholars (within five years post-graduation). The award was established by the editors and organizers of the AAWM journal and conference series, together with Rob's family, to honour our dear friend and colleague's sudden passing in May 2016.