Headliner Highlight

Elizabeth Andang’o, PhD

Kenyatta University

Dr. Elizabeth Achieng’ Andang’o is a lecturer in Music Education in the School of Creative and Performing Arts, Film and Media Studies, Department of Music and Dance at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya. She earned a PhD in Music Education from Kenyatta University (2009). Part of her doctoral work was conducted at the Institute of Education, University College London under Professor Graham F. Welch, funded through the Society of Education, Music and Psychology Research (SEMPRE). Her PhD thesis was on the use of song and movement to create a multicultural curriculum for early childhood music education in Kenya. She holds a M.A. in Music Education and a Bachelor of Education (Music), both from Kenyatta University.

Elizabeth teaches postgraduate and undergraduate courses in music education and supervises research dissertations for masters and doctoral students. She has also served as an external examiner for masters and doctoral students in Kenya and South Africa.

Elizabeth is a researcher with a focus on early childhood music education, in the areas of multicultural music education, singing and community music among others. Based on her research, she has given presentations at conferences and seminars in Taiwan, Rome, Beijing, Greece, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Israel and Azerbaijan. She is a member of the International Society of Music Education since 2006. She has attended ISME’s Early Childhood Music Education Commission (ECME) since 2006 and served as a Commissioner between 2010 and 2016. Other conference presentations include Educating the Creative Mind Conference at Kean University, New Jersey (2010), RIME in Exeter, UK (2007 and 2011), the Ethnomusicology Symposium at University of Dar es Salaam (2012) and Pan Africa Society for Musical Arts Education (2003, 2005 and 2019). Two major collaborative research projects she has been involved in are Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing (AIRS), a Canadian Funded project (she participated between 2010 and 2015), where she was part of Dr. Lily Chen-Hafteck’s research project conducted in Brazil, China, Canada and Kenya on the relationship between singing and intercultural understanding. The other is MyPlaceMyMusic Project with Dr. Susan Young from the UK and researchers from 12 countries.

Elizabeth has published articles in several peer reviewed journals including Early Child Development and Care, Arts Education Policy Review, East Africa Journal of Music Education and International Journal of Community Music. She has also authored and co-authored chapters in several books including Children’s Home Musical Experiences around the World (Indiana University Press, 2016), and Music Education in Africa: Concept, Process and Practice (Routledge, 2019). She contributed a chapter in The Routledge Companion to Interdisciplinary Studies in Singing, Volume III (2020). Nationally, she has contributed to research on prominent Kenyan musicians through publishing a chapter each in Biographies of Kenyan Musicians, Volumes I and II.

Elizabeth served as a reviewer for Perspectives which was recently expanded in scope into the International Journal of Music in Early Childhood. She is currently serving as Associate Editor for Africa for IJMEC. She is a Board member for the International Society of Music Education (2018-2022). Elizabeth also provides mentorship and vocal training for her church music team members.

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