Austin C. Okigbo is an associate professor in the College of Music, and affiliate faculty in Ethnic Studies and Global Health. He received his PhD聽in Ethnomusicology and African Studies from Indiana University, Bloomington, and a master's in Sacred Music and Music Education from Westminster Choir College where he studied with Robin Leaver, Joseph Flummerfelt, James Jordan and Frank Abrahams, with performance tracks in voice and choral conducting. He also has degrees in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical Urban University, Rome.聽His research focuses on religious music, musical diasporas, global health, inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogues. Prior to joining CU 麻豆影院, Professor Okigbo taught at Williams College as the Sterling Brown Visiting Professor, Harvard University聽and the University of Notre Dame.
Okigbo has featured in a number of local and international radio and television programs including BBC, Channels TV Lagos, Nigeria聽and Black Radio Consortium as contributor and analyst on the entertainment industry, and cultural education and policy. He is the author of聽Music, Culture, and the Politics of Health: Ethnography of a South African AIDS Choir (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016).聽He聽has published articles in聽Africa Today, Du Bois Review, Ethnomusicology, Journal of Folklore Research,聽and聽The Journal of the International Library of African Music.聽He is the editor of the聽World of Music聽(Verlag, Berlin, Germany 2015) on the New African Musical Diasporas. Professor Okigbo鈥檚 current work includes book projects on music and cultural imaginations in African Christianity; and new African musical diasporas. He also has an on-going project on World Music of the Front Range, Colorado.
Okigbo directs the CU World Vocal Ensemble, which has featured with the world famous South African vocal group, The Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and the multi-award-winning popular musician and activist Johnny Clegg. He has conducted college, church, and community choirs in the United States, South Africa, and Nigeria. He served as the co-chair of the African Music Section of the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) between 2014 and 2017 in addition to serving on several committees in the organization and the African Studies Association
