Barry Bilderback, Ph.D.

Barry T. Bilderback, Ph.D., is a native of Upstate New York. He received his Bachelor of Arts in applied music from SUNY Oswego (1991-Magna Cum Laude) and his Master of Arts in music history from Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts (1994). Having earned his doctorate in music history from the University of Oregon’s School of Music (2001) he also received the Excellence in Teaching Award in the Academic Area. Prior to his Lionel Hampton School of Music position, Bilderback served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Oregon and Adjunct Professor at Linfield College. He is also past president of the College Music Society/Pacific Northwest Chapter. As he continues to present papers and serve as session chair for regional, national and international conferences, he received honorary member status to the American Slavic Society and has also served as the Keynote Speaker for Uganda’s Kyambogo University 2013 Conference on African Indigenous Music.

With a primary focus on West African music and culture, Bilderback leads groups to Ghana and Uganda and taught at the University of Ghana through the University Study Abroad Consortium. Along with teaching world music and western art music courses — ranging from the non-major to graduate levels — he also directs the LHSOM World Beat Ensemble and is a co-organizer for the LHSOM World Music Celebration. He has published articles on Ghanaian music, culture and study abroad in NAFSA’s International Educator, the "Journal of Pan-African Studies" and American Percussive Society’s Percussive Notes. His article “Saving the Music: Tradition, Institution and Copyright in 21st Century Ghana,” for The Journal of Interdisciplinary Approaches to Cultural Diversity was selected for the Frederick Douglass Commemorative 2014, Vol. 15 edition. With his work recognized by the J. William Fulbright Scholarship Board, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, he has been selected for the Fulbright Specialists Program Scholar and Faculty Member Roster. 

After over 15 years at the University of Idaho, Bilderback retired after the Spring 2023 Semester.