Professional Background:

Barry T. Bilderback, Ph.D., newly appointed assistant professor of music history and ethnomusicology, is a native of upstate New York.  He received his B.A. degree in applied music from SUNY Oswego (1991—Magna Cum Laude) and his M.A. in music history from the Bowling Green State University College of Musical Arts (1994).  Having earned his Ph.D. in music history from the University of Oregon School of Music  (2001) he also received the School of Music's GTF Excellence in Teaching Award in the academic area. 

Prior to his Lionel Hampton School of Music appointment, Dr. Bilderback taught at Linfield College and the University of Oregon. He is also a past president of the College Music Society/Pacific Northwest Chapter (2003-2005).  With a dissertation and focus of study on N.A. Rimskii-Korsakov and 19^th century Russian nationalism, Dr. Bilderback was awarded the Council of International Education and Exchange travel grant and scholarship whereby he studied and conducted research in St. Petersburg, Russia.  While giving numerous conference papers for the College Music Society, Society of Ethnomusicology, and the American Musicological Society, he has also presented his research at the University of London (Goldsmith College) for the Rimskii-Korsakov International Festival and Conference.  Dr. Bilderback has also received an honorary membership to the American Slavic Society. Currently, for publication he is writing a historical expose on the Russian-American composer Vladimir (Vernon Duke) Dukelskii.

Dr. Bilderback’s overseas teaching includes a study abroad course in Vienna, Salzburg and Prague during the 2006 Mozart Festival. Having recently returned from Africa (Ghana), where he conducted a study abroad course in Ghanaian drumming and dance, Dr. Bilderback is researching contemporary Ghanaian institutions and the way(s) traditional music is taught. In his study, he is collaborating with renowned master drummer Prof. Komla Amoaku (Founder and Director of the Institute for Ghanaian Music), Prof. Kofi Anyidoho (University of Ghana), and Nii “Chief” Tettey Tetteh (Founder and Director of the Kusun Cultural Centre). Dr. Bilderback has been invited to present his research on the koshaka /aslatwa tradition of the Ga people for the upcoming 2008 International Conference of “Music, Health, and Happiness,” to be held at the Royal College of Music, Manchester, UK.  In his spare time Dr. Bilderback is a freelance society-style jazz pianist.  He also continues his work on the violin and the flute while fine-tuning his kpanlogo and djembe drumming skills under the direction of Ghanaian master drummer Nii Ardey Allotey, and Guinean master drummer Alseny Yansane.