The Craft of Writing About Music & Sound

In the framework of Beirut & Beyond International Music Festival’s series of technical workshops meant to support and develop the local music scene, this workshop is designed for aspiring/rising music writers and researchers, developed and led by Christina Hazboun (aka The Sonic Agent – writer, researcher, creative) and Pierre France (scholar, writer, researcher).

It is aimed at all Lebanon-based individuals with an interest in music, specifically those with basic prior knowledge in the fields of cultural writing and research.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP

• Dates: 1-3 December, 2025
• Time: 5-8 PM
• Workshop language: English
• Output languages: English, French or Arabic (personal choice)
• Level: Flexible

Practical implementation during BBIMF 2025 for selected participants.

MEET THE WORKSHOP LEADERS

About Christina Hazboun

Christina Hazboun is a writer, researcher and practitioner within the spheres of text, sound, radio and music morphing through sonic spaces, striving to increase the volume on the whispered, silenced and erased. She does so under the umbrella of The Sonic Agent, where she also conjures live events and tours to increase the visibility and audibility of music and sound from the SWANA.

Her chapter “Sonic Strategies in The Palestinian Struggle” appears in the Silver Press “BODIES OF SOUND: Becoming a Feminist Ear” and Transcript Verlag’s “Beyond Molotovs”. Her texts and audio/radio works endeavour to document Palestinian music and soundscapes, while also focusing on the global south. Her audio works appear on  platforms like Stegi Radio, Radio Al-Hara, Culture Resource.

Her texts are anarchived in the digital universe including Bandcamp, The Guardian, The Quietus, Herri Magazine, Bloomsbury Press, Middle East Eye, The New Arab and the upcoming Trigger issue and more.

Christina is also the UK project manager of global music and gender initiative Keychange at PRS Foundation.

About Pierre France

Pierre France studied sociology, political science, and musicology, and has been writing about music for over a decade, both as a researcher and a writer (and sometimes DJ under the name analfabet). His work combines a meticulous attention to musical material with a grounded analysis of its economic and social infrastructures. It appeared in publications such as Middle East Eye, Orient XXI, Vacarme, Ma3azef, Legal Agenda, and Musique Journal.

A recent fellow at Stanford University, the Marc Bloch Center (Berlin), the Max Weber Stiftung (Beirut), and the Camargo Foundation (Cassis, France), he is completing a PhD and developing a forthcoming book project. Based between France and Lebanon since 2011, he is regularly consulted by media outlets including Reuters, le Figaro, L’Orient-Le Jour, France Culture, and France Inter for his expertise.

Recently, he completed two major studies: one quantitative, analysing two years of music charts across Arab countries to explore listening habits and popular taste; and another historical, tracing the rise and influence of the still powerful music and financial conglomerate Rotana (Regards, forthcoming 2025).

This workshop is free of charge and is part of the MASAR program, and is funded by the Institut Francais du Liban.