Image by Matteo Bracco, University Photographer, Hofstra University
Abimbola Kai-Lewis
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Abimbola Cole Kai-Lewis is a New York-based ethnomusicologist and educator. In addition to serving as a professor in the Africana studies department at Berklee College of Music, she teaches in the music department at Hofstra University and the department of performing and fine arts at York College – City University of New York (CUNY). Dr. Kai-Lewis leads a range of courses dedicated to African American music, global music, hip-hop culture, and music education.
As a former New York City teaching fellow, Dr. Kai-Lewis taught in public and charter schools for 12 years. Throughout this period, she established partnerships with education departments in various organizations, including the Apollo Theater, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, TED, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dr. Kai-Lewis continually designs curricular materials and workshops through consultancies with the Apollo Theater and Music Workshop.
Dr. Kai-Lewis earned her bachelor’s degree in music performance at Spelman College. During this period, she studied abroad at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and had the opportunity to begin ethnomusicological studies of Southern African music. Dr. Kai-Lewis also received a master’s degree in education from Long Island University – Brooklyn. She completed her doctoral studies in the department of ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her research examines the music of South African hip-hop collective Cashless Society. She also investigates the music of emcee Chosan and the ways in which his artistry contributes to Sierra Leonean diaspora communities. Subsequent research explores the incorporation of musical arts programming in K-12 classroom instruction.
- Ensembles: Afro-Cuban music (2002) with Francisco Aguabella (leader); music and dance of West Africa (2001-2005) with Beatrice Ladzekpo, Kobla Ladzekpo, and Yeko Ladzekpo-Cole (leaders); and Atlanta University Center Orchestra (1997-2001) with Alfred Duckett (conductor)
- Instruments: cello instruction with Martha Siegel (1990-1992), Styra Avins (1992-1993), Peter Lewy (1994-1997), and Kathleen Kee (1997-2001); piano instruction with Toby Glickman (1986), David Richards (1987), Halina Goldberg (1987-1997), and Joyce Finch Johnson (1997-1999)
- Publications: “1930s U.S. Encounters with Sierra Leonean Dance Dramas,” American Contact: Objects of Intercultural Encounters and the Boundaries of Book History, edited by Rhae Lynn Barnes and Glenda Goodman, 2024, pp. 380-386.; “Contemporary Music in Botswana,” The SAGE Encyclopedia of Music and Culture, edited by Janet L. Sturman, 2019, pp. 398-401.; “Hip-Hop Music in Botswana,” The Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, edited by Heidi Carolyn Feldman, David Horn, John Shepherd, and Gabrielle Keilichpp, 2019, pp. 228.
- Hofstra University Center for Race, Culture, and Social Justice Faculty Summer Research Grant (2024)
- Hofstra University Cultural Center Grant (2024)
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art Professional Learning Community Fellowship (2020)
- New York City Writing Project Invitational Leadership Institute (2017)
- J. William Fulbright Fellowship (2005)
- Yale Fulbright-Hays Zulu Group Project Abroad (2003)