James Isabirye

Lecturer

Biography

James teaches MA in Music and MA in Music Education courses including: Psychological and Philosophical Foundations of Music Education, Music Curriculum Design and Pedagogy, Jazz and Popular Music Practice, and African and Western Applied Music. He also teaches Music Appreciation and Analysis, Vocal and Musical Instrument Skills, Ugandan Dance Skills, and Popular Entertainment to undergraduate students. James has supervised graduate students of MA in Music, MA in Music Education, Master of Vocational Pedagogy and M. Ed. (Policy, Planning and Management).

James is a multi-instrumentalist, cultural revivalist and a researcher of diverse music cultures and school-learning in formerly colonized societies, with an eye on indigeneity, and how to decolonize the theory and practice of music and general education. James has led multiple important cultural revival projects in Uganda (Ref: www.singingwells.org/current-leading-figures/ ), like the bigwala trumpets (Ref:  //ich.unesco.org/en/assistances/safeguarding-and-promotion-of-bigwala-gourd-trumpet-music-and-dance-of-busoga-kingdom-in-uganda-00979 ), the entenga royal drums (Ref: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpG0HLNxVQA ), and naizungwe drum music. www.singingwells.org/stories/introducing-the-naizungwe-drums/. These projects resulted in new generations of musicians being created.

James earned the PhD in Music Education from Oakland University Rochester, Michigan, U.S.A, a Master of Arts in Music of Kyambogo University, a Master of Education Policy, Planning and Management of Kyambogo University, and a First-Class Bachelor of Education (Music) of Kyambogo University.

Publications

  1. Isabirye, J. (2022). Reclaiming indigenous epistemes: Entenga drums revival at Kyambogo University. In Knaus, Mino, & Seroto (Eds.), Decolonising African Higher Education (pp. 97–107). Routledge. www.routledge.com/Decolonising-African-Higher-Education-Practitioner-Perspectives-from-Across/Knaus-Mino-Seroto/p/book/9780367745189
  2. Isabirye, J. (2021c). Revitalization of the Bigwala gourd trumpet heritage of the Basoga people of Uganda. In E. Falk & S.Y. Park (Eds.), Traditional musical instruments: Sharing experiences from the field (pp. 91–102). UNESCO-ICHCAP and Heritage Alive. www.unesco-ichcap.org/publications-archive/2021-living-heritage-series/
  3. Isabirye, J. (2021b). Can indigenous music learning processes inform contemporary schooling? International Journal of Music Education, 39(2), 151-166. Sage. doi.org/10.1177/0255761421996373
  4. Isabirye, J. (2021a). Indigenous music learning in contemporary contexts: Nurturing learner identity, agency, and passion. Research Studies in Music Education, 43(2), 239-258. Sage. doi.org/10.1177/1321103X20954548
  5. Isabirye, J. (2020). Namadu Drum Music and Dance as Mediation of Healing Rituals among the Bagwere People of Uganda. Muziki, Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa. 17 (1), 46-71. Routledge. doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2021.1885304 
  6. Isabirye, J. (2019). Uganda: History, Culture, and Geography of Music. In the Sage International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture (pp. 2253–2255). Sage.
  7. Isabirye, J. (2012). Tube fiddles in Uganda across boundaries of ethnic groups and digital worlds. In M. Claus-Bachmann (Ed.), Musik Zwischen Materialität und Virtualitä–Musokologische Feldforschung und eLearning in 2D- und 3D- Umgebungen (pp. 41-64). Ulme-mini-verlag Giessen.