Brent C. Talbot has been a leading voice for change in the field of music education. A prolific author and frequent presenter, Talbot’s work examines power, discourse, and issues of justice in varied settings for music learning around the globe. He is the editor of one of the best selling books in music education, Marginalized Voices in Music Education (Routledge), the curator of an indigenous-centering resource, Gending Rare: Children's Songs and Games from Bali (GIA), and co-author of the acclaimed book Education, Music, and the Lives of Undergraduates: Collegiate A Cappella and the Pursuit of Happiness (Bloomsbury).
Over the past decade, Talbot has published over 30 articles and chapters with leading journals and publishing companies and has delivered over 140 presentations on topics that promote equity and inclusion and diversify approaches in music learning and teaching. He serves on the steering committee of the MayDay Group and on the editorial boards of Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education and the Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education.
Prior to his appointment as Professor and Head of Music at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Talbot served for twelve years as Coordinator of Music Education at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College. During this period, he also served as Artistic Director of the Gettysburg Children's Choir, a 3rd through 12th grade justice-oriented choir serving the populations of South-Central Pennsylvania, and was Founding Director of Gamelan Gita Semara, an Indonesian instrumental ensemble that was frequently invited to perform at universities and music festivals around the world, including the acclaimed Bali Arts Festival in 2016.
A former middle and high school teacher, Talbot taught choir, band, and general music classes in the Rochester (NY) City School District and at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, where he served as chair of the music department. Brent performs piano, voice, saxophone, percussion, and gamelan, and was a former ballroom dancer and instructor for Arthur Murray. He earned a Ph.D and M.A. in Music Education and a Diploma in Ethnomusicology from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester as well as a B.M.E. in Choral/General and Instrumental Music Education from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Additionally, he is certified in three levels of Orff-Schulwerk.
Over the past decade, Talbot has published over 30 articles and chapters with leading journals and publishing companies and has delivered over 140 presentations on topics that promote equity and inclusion and diversify approaches in music learning and teaching. He serves on the steering committee of the MayDay Group and on the editorial boards of Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education and the Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education.
Prior to his appointment as Professor and Head of Music at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Talbot served for twelve years as Coordinator of Music Education at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College. During this period, he also served as Artistic Director of the Gettysburg Children's Choir, a 3rd through 12th grade justice-oriented choir serving the populations of South-Central Pennsylvania, and was Founding Director of Gamelan Gita Semara, an Indonesian instrumental ensemble that was frequently invited to perform at universities and music festivals around the world, including the acclaimed Bali Arts Festival in 2016.
A former middle and high school teacher, Talbot taught choir, band, and general music classes in the Rochester (NY) City School District and at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, where he served as chair of the music department. Brent performs piano, voice, saxophone, percussion, and gamelan, and was a former ballroom dancer and instructor for Arthur Murray. He earned a Ph.D and M.A. in Music Education and a Diploma in Ethnomusicology from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester as well as a B.M.E. in Choral/General and Instrumental Music Education from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Additionally, he is certified in three levels of Orff-Schulwerk.