Bio

Professor David Akombo is an internationally recognized educator, researcher and scholar in the fields of music education and interdisciplinary research in the arts and health. After completing his undergraduate degree in Music Education from Kenya, Professor Akombo pursued his scholarship in the United States where he completed the Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning from Point Loma Nazarene University, the Masters of Music in Ethnomusicology from Bowling Green State University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education from The University of Florida. Well-grounded in a global and international education, spanning from Africa, to Southeast Asia, to the United States, Professor Akombo is a highly-sought speaker having been invited to give lectures at Brigham Young University, Boston University, and UNICEF-Funded project in Jamaica among others. He has previously held positions in research, teaching, and administration at various prestigious institutions of higher learning in the United States ranging from university distinguished diversity fellow, to department chair, to associate dean.

Qualifications

PhD (Florida). MMus (Bowling Green State), MA (Point Loma Nazarene), BEd (Kenyatta)

Research Areas

Professor Akombo’s eclectic research interests include Music Education, Ethnomusicology, Community Music, Comprehensive Musicianship, Music and Cognition, Music Technology, Psychology of Music, and interdisciplinarity of Music and biomedical sciences. Dr. Akombo is the author of fourteen books and book chapters, over thirty articles in peer review journals and encyclopedic entries published in The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture and The Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World.

Professor Akombo is currently developing the Theory of Musical Authenticity. He is developing the theory using a variety of approaches including but not limited to philosophical, psychological, sociological, and ethnomusicological processes to propose a scale for measurability of musical authenticity. This project has been funded by the US Department of Education for peer review at the 11th International Conference for Research in Music Education, at Bath Spa University in Bristol, United Kingdom.

Teaching Areas

Music Education
General Musicianship
Research Methods in Music
Interdisciplinary Studies in Music and Health

Select Publications

Akombo, D. O. (2016). Unity of Music and Dance in Society Worldwide” Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN-13: 978-0786497157

Aldeguer, P.S. & Akombo, D. O. (2019). Research, Technology and Best Practices in Education. The Netherlands: Adaya Press. http://www.adayapress.com/research-technology-and-best-practices-in-education/

Akombo, D. O. & Johnson, D. (2013). The Anthology of African Band Music. Yakima, WA: Cave Moon Publishers.

Ruszkowski, J. & Akombo, D. O. (Eds) (2012). Proceedings of the Interdisciplinary Society for Quantitative Research in Music and Medicine. Red Hook, NY: Curran Associates Inc.

Akombo, D. O. (2009). Music and Medicine: Connections Found. Long Island City, NY: Seaburn Publishing.

Akombo, D. O. (2008). Music and Musical Instruments. Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World. Peter Bogucki, (Ed.), New York, NY: Infobase Publishing.

Akombo, D. O. (2006). Music And Healing Across Cultures. Ames, Iowa: Culicidae Press.

Keywords

Music Education, Ethnomusicology, Community Music, Comprehensive Musicianship, Music and Cognition, Music Technology, Psychology of Music, and interdisciplinarity of Music and biomedical sciences.