AUGUST 19 • 2021 | 49

ACADEMIC SIDE
Although Dardashti start-
ed as a voice major at the
University of Maryland,
College Park, she decided
to pursue a doctoral degree
that would allow her to
study music in a different
context.
“I could be the nerd
that I am, get deep into
research and continue my
musical interests and stud-
ies,” explained Dardashti,
married to a lawyer and the
mother of two sons, ages 13
and 10.
“I was a graduate student
at the University of Texas at
Austin when I met a bunch
of musicians who started
Divahn, and I got more
deeply into Middle Eastern
music. The plan was to
pursue an academic career
with music on the side,
but the music took over a
little bit. I would go back
and forth between being a
musician and being an aca-
demic.”
After moving to New
York, Dardashti served as
an associate professor of
Jewish music at the Jewish
Theological Seminary and
was the recipient of musical
grants. One was for a proj-
ect called “The Naming,”
which featured songs that
represented women in the
Middle East.
“In all of my work, the
unifying strand is broad-
ening the concept of
Jewishness, Jewish music
and Jewish practice,”
Dardashti said in echoing
the intent of Global Voices.
“North America is predom-
inantly Ashkenazi in Jewish
practice, so people’s under-
standing of Judaism is very
Western. An important goal
in the public work I do is
to broaden people’s under-
standing of what Jewishness
sounds like.”

Details
Global Voices Weekend runs
Friday-Saturday, Aug. 27-28, on
the grounds of Temple Beth El
in Bloomfield Township, where
there will be a tent. Except for a
possible catered lunch ($12) for
the Saturday program, the events
— 7 p.m. Friday, 1 and 7 p.m.
Saturday — are free and open
to the community. They also will
be livestreamed. To order lunch,
RSVP to nfortier@comcast.net.
To stream, go to tbelive.org.
(248) 851-1100. tbeonline.org.

Galeet Dardashti

COURTESY OF GALEET DARDASHTI