DR. RUPA SINHA’S RESEARCH FOCUSES ON THE INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF HINDUSTANI CLASSICAL VOCAL MUSIC, SEMI-CLASSICAL MUSIC, AND TRIBAL FOLK MUSIC WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE CULTURAL TRADITIONS OF JHARKHAND. HER SCHOLARLY WORK EMPHASIZES THE CLASSICAL ANALYSIS OF NAGPURI JHUMAR, SADANI LOK SANGEET, AND INDIGENOUS TRIBAL MUSICAL TRADITIONS THROUGH ETHNOMUSICOLOGICAL AND PERFORMANCE-BASED APPROACHES. SHE HAS EXTENSIVELY EXPLORED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOLK AND CLASSICAL MUSIC, PARTICULARLY THE INFLUENCE OF SHASTRIYA SANGEET ON REGIONAL AND RABINDRA SANGEET TRADITIONS. HER RESEARCH ALSO INCLUDES STUDIES ON INDIAN FOLK INSTRUMENTS, TRADITIONAL PERFORMANCE PRACTICES, DANCE FORMS, MUSIC PEDAGOGY, CULTURAL HERITAGE PRESERVATION, AND THE ROLE OF MUSIC IN SOCIAL AND CULTURAL IDENTITY. THROUGH ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS, SEMINARS, LECTURE DEMONSTRATIONS, AND RESEARCH-BASED MUSICAL PRODUCTIONS, SHE CONTRIBUTES SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE PRESERVATION, DOCUMENTATION, AND
PROMOTION OF INDIAN CLASSICAL AND FOLK MUSIC TRADITIONS. HER EMERGING AREAS OF ACADEMIC INTEREST INCLUDE INNOVATIVE AND INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES IN HINDUSTANI CLASSICAL MUSIC RESEARCH SUCH AS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING-BASED RAGA RECOGNITION, NEUROSCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF MEEND, GAMAK AND MUSICAL PERCEPTION, SCIENTIFIC MEASUREMENT OF 22 SHRUTIS THROUGH DIGITAL FREQUENCY MAPPING, MICRO-TONAL IMPROVISATION STUDIES, AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN INDIAN RAGA SYSTEMS AND MIDDLE EASTERN MAQAM TRADITIONS. SHE IS ALSO INTERESTED IN CONTEMPORARY STUDIES ON OTT PLATFORMS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF BANDISH STRUCTURES IN DIGITAL MEDIA, CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACT ON RAGA-SAMAY THEORY, BREATHING TECHNIQUES AND VOCAL ENDURANCE IN RELATION TO SPORTS SCIENCE, AESTHETICS OF SILENCE IN MUSICAL IMPROVISATION, AND THE CREATION OF NEW RAGAS FROM FOLK MELODIES. ADDITIONALLY, HER RESEARCH INTERESTS EXTEND TOWARDS SOCIO-CULTURAL AND ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDIES INCLUDING THE CONTRIBUTION OF TRANSGENDER ARTISTS IN HINDUSTANI MUSIC TRADITIONS, PRESERVATION OF TRIBAL FOLK HERITAGE, AND THE EVOLVING ROLE OF MUSIC IN MODERN SOCIETY.