The Scholar Reviving Saudi Arabia’s Musical Tradition

Dr. Lisa Urkevich’s journey into the heart of Arabian heritage began in the 1990s, during a time when life for expatriates in Saudi Arabia was often described as challenging, with limited entertainment and social opportunities. First living in Khamis Mushait, she immersed herself in the culture she had previously only encountered in books. Rather than seeing isolation, she saw an opportunity — connecting with local women, observing traditions firsthand, and gaining deep insight into Saudi heritage.

A scholar of music and heritage, Dr. Urkevich became fascinated by the role of music in Saudi society, a topic that had been largely unexplored in academic circles. What began as curiosity evolved into a decades-long endeavor to document and analyze Saudi Arabia’s diverse musical traditions. Her research took her from intimate all-women gatherings to grand performances of ardah — the national sword dance — and led to the publication of Music and Traditions of the Arabian Peninsula, regarded as the most comprehensive work on the subject.

Today, Dr. Urkevich, a Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University, continues to dedicate her efforts to preserving the nation’s musical heritage. Her career has spanned institutions such as Boston University and the American University of Kuwait, where she played a pivotal role in shaping arts and humanities programs. A Harvard Fellow and two-time Senior Fulbright Grant Scholar, she has advised governments and institutions while remaining deeply engaged in the study and preservation of Gulf heritage.

In this exclusive interview with Saudi Times, she reflects on her first encounters with Saudi music, the intricate ties between tribal and urban traditions, and the evolving landscape of heritage preservation in an era of rapid transformation. She also offers insight into the cultural connections between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait — and why safeguarding traditional music requires more than nostalgia: it demands academic rigor and a vision for the future.

Q1: Your Research on Saudi Heritage Includes Music, an Unusual Focus. Was There a Specific Moment or Encounter That Challenged Your Assumptions and Drew You Into This Field?

A: I have been a musician since I was a young child and later became a music researcher and professor. So when I first arrived in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, I already had two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree in music and was completing a PhD in musicology and ethnomusicology.

There are different types of music in any culture. For instance, entertainment music is fleeting—tied to industry and personal enjoyment. But there are other forms of music that carry significant meaning and have become part of tradition. In those early years, I saw that a great deal of Saudi music was traditional or heritage-based — that is, music that has significance among communities, has survived for many decades, and reflects the identity of a people. It can include folk songs or even more pop-like Saudi songs. This music is part of the cultural fabric and does not exist in a vacuum.

To understand it, I had to try and understand everything else around the culture: the differences between tribes and urban groups, their rituals, beliefs, clothing, artifacts, and so many other aspects. And since the Kingdom is so large and diverse, and the music of each community is so detailed and complex, it took many decades to gain access, unpackage and analyze information, check my sources, and go back to tribal experts or master musicians again and again to make sense of it all.

I knew that my research was unique — no one with my kind of education had ever attempted such an endeavor — so I felt a deep responsibility to collect the most accurate and authentic data. Ethically, I needed to adhere to the highest global academic standards. That is why it took me so many years to complete my book on Saudi music and why, I believe, my research is still so trusted today.

Q2: What Was Your First Real Encounter With Saudi Music? A Performance, a Setting, or a Reaction That Made You Rethink Its Role in Society?

A: The first live Saudi music I ever encountered was at an all-women’s wedding party, where I saw women singing and playing musical instruments. Of course, there were frame drums (tiraan), but one woman played a musical keyboard, and later, another played a full pop music drum kit. I soon learned that because of the prevalence of female-only parties, there were a lot of women musicians in the country.

In fact, proportionally, there were more live professional women musicians in Saudi Arabia than in the USA! In that sense, having segregated parties gave women more incentive and opportunity to become professional musicians than they would have had in a Western country. I found this fascinating.

Q3: You Lived in Saudi Arabia From 1994 to 1998. Was There a Moment When You Realized Saudi Heritage Was More Complex — or Different — Than You Initially Thought?

A: Yes. I first lived in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, then returned throughout the years for my research. In recent times, I have been working in the Kingdom on special projects.

There was a particular moment in the 1990s, not long after I first landed in Riyadh, when I realized the depth of the music. I turned on the television and saw Saudi ardah — the national sword music and dance. Then I left the house for an hour, and when I returned, the men on the TV were still performing the same ardah! This was amazing. I wondered, why would they do that? I became obsessed and had to learn everything about this wonderful music-dance art, which I soon discovered was deeply tied to a million other aspects of Saudi heritage.

Q4: Saudi Arabia and Kuwait Share History but Have Distinct Identities. Have You Ever Come Across a Piece of Music or a Performance That Perfectly Illustrates This Contrast?

A: Absolutely. Kuwait and Saudi cultures share many similarities. I lived in Kuwait for many years while I was a professor and college administrator helping build a new university. There, I developed a course on Arabian traditions and often taught Saudi students or Kuwaitis who had Saudi family. They loved it when we examined the cultural connections between the two countries.

A key difference is that Kuwait is a small country, founded around its extraordinary port, and has always had a cosmopolitan outlook—with strong ties to the sea and a history of trade and international interaction. This has impacted its culture and music. For example, you’ll find different kinds of ardah. There’s the Saudi Najdi type, but there’s also a “sea” ardah, where men have no swords and musicians incorporate barrel drums (tabl bahri), originally used on pearl-diving boats and merchant ships.

There are many traditional musics in Kuwait with Saudi roots, and it is noteworthy that many 20th-century Saudi musical artists got their start there. Kuwait has been known as the “Pearl of the Gulf” because of its support for music and the arts like theatre.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is vast — the largest country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. There are countless communities across its villages, districts, hamlets, and ancient cities. Each has its own creative genres and interpretations of musical arts. Saudi heritage music is precious and important — not just to the Kingdom, but to the entire Arabian Peninsula, and indeed, to the world.

Q5: Saudi Arabia Is Experiencing a Cultural Shift. Do You See Traditional Music Evolving Alongside This Change, or Is It at Risk of Becoming a Nostalgic Relic? Has Globalization Helped or Hindered the Survival of Traditional Gulf Music?

A: I think the cultural shift in the Kingdom is wonderful and has vastly improved the lives of so many Saudi citizens. But in a globalized, commercial world, traditional music is highly vulnerable and can easily disappear. So the situation is complicated.

Traditional music is intangible and abstract — much easier to forget, misrepresent, or replace than tangible heritage like a historic building. We need to make a concerted effort to preserve and research it under expert oversight, because it is vital to national identity, education, credibility in global intellectual communities, and cultural tourism — where authenticity is key to success and sustainability.

Preserving and studying traditional performing arts with expertise and academic rigor is not easy. Even though important work is underway, further efforts — including new research methods and educational programs tailored to Saudi Arabia’s unique needs — could be transformative and benefit the region for decades.

That’s why I have great hope for what is to come, and I believe Saudi Arabia can lead the world in shaping high-quality music heritage preservation and education. My Saudi colleagues and I are dedicated to supporting this success.

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