We are pleased to announce Ritual Soundings: Women Performers and World Religions by Sarah Weiss was recognized by the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) with Honorable Mention for the 2021 Book Prize.

The award committee said:

“It is an absolutely fascinating drawing together of disparate vignettes in a cohesive recognition of the huge shadow culture of women’s agency in world religions”

“Her sensitive contextualisation, description, and juxtaposition of the case studies gently unravels diverse arguments on religious exceptionalism and reveals how women’s agency animates ritual practice”

As Weiss astutely observes, “Far from peripheral to the practice of religion in a particular place, women’s activities are instrumental in focusing and shaping local variants of the practice of world religions around the globe”

“The afterword conveys an important message: that people from different religious backgrounds might be able to value one another more once they realize the similarities they share”

The mission of the International Council for Traditional Music is “to promote research, documentation, safeguarding, and sustainability of music, dance, and related performing arts, taking into account the diversity of cultural practices, past and present, and scholarly traditions worldwide.”

Congratulations Sarah Weiss!