Gavin Steingo

Born 1981 in Johannesburg/South Africa.

Gavin Steingo completed his PhD in the anthropology of music at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA/USA in 2010 and from 2010–2012 was a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University, New York, NY/USA. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at Princeton University, NJ/USA.

He has published articles in numerous edited collections and journals such as African Music, African Identities, Black Music Research Journal, Contemporary Music Review, Review of Disability Studies, The World of Music, and Cultural Critique (forthcoming). His book, Kwaito’s Promise: Music and the Aesthetics of Freedom in South Africa, was published by the University of Chicago in June 2016. In addition to his academic pursuits, he regularly consults with popular media outlets such as Afropop Worldwide and performance venues such as the Apollo Theater and Carnegie Hall.

He has received grants and fellowships from a range of agencies and institutions, including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the American Musicological Society, the Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University, National Gugak Center, Seoul/South Korea, Merck Pharmaceuticals, and, most recently, the Alzheimer’s Association.