The first call for applications for the Pau Casals Chair research grants opens

The Pau Casals Chair in Music and the Defence of Peace and Human Rights, founded in 2022 by means of an agreement between the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and the Pau Casals Foundation, is opening its first call for applications for research grants with the mission of promoting research into and understanding of the musical and humanistic legacy of Pau Casals.

These grants are not limited to research into the figure of Casals, but are also open to topics associated with the values championed by the musician throughout his life, such as human rights, the culture of peace, international justice and the role of music and culture in preventing conflicts and fostering social cohesion, in line with the 2030 sustainable development strategy.

"Music, this wonderful universal language, should be a source of communication between all men"; "one cannot separate music from life", as the master himself put it.

This call is open to students and researchers throughout the world. It is available to research projects associated with bachelor's or master's degree or postgraduate final projects, work related to a doctoral thesis or any other research linked to a university.

The Pau Casals Chair offers a financial endowment of €2,000 to each of the grant recipients, as well as support and mentoring from an expert committee and access to Pau Casals' document archive, found at the National Archive of Catalonia, amongst other benefits.

The call for applications will be open from 23 January to 10 March 2023. The decision of the selection committee shall be issued before 31 March and grant recipients must submit their final research project before 31 December 2023.

You can consult the terms and conditions for the Pau Casals Chair research grants and access the application form here: https://www.catedra.paucasals.eu/en/

This first edition of these research grants forms part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Pau Casals (El Vendrell, 1876 - San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1973) and is in collaboration with the AIE Society of Artists. The Pau Casals Chair will make an annual call for grant applications to foster research.

About the Pau Casals Chair

The Pau Casals Chair in Music and the Defence of Peace and Human Rights is a project stemming from an agreement between the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and the Pau Casals Foundation with the aim of promoting contemporary research, knowledge, dissemination and debate around the musical and humanistic dimension of Pau Casals and his extraordinary legacy, as well as the values he championed throughout his life. It is a Chair to foster the engagement of culture and music with the great problems of today’s society, to bring people, researchers and artists together. It is a space for reflection and research on the role of music in cross-cultural dialogue and institutions that defend human rights and multilateralism for a better world.

About the Pau Casals Foundation

The Pau Casals Foundation is a private, non-profit organization that was created by Pau Casals and his wife Marta Casals in 1972 to preserve the legacy of Pau Casals and to promote and disseminate knowledge of classical music.

Its mission is to preserve and disseminate the heritage, and the artistic and humanitarian legacy of Pau Casals, support young cellists and encourage projects that promote the values that Pau Casals championed throughout his life on behalf of peace, human rights and social commitment.