Kolawole Ganikale

Kolawole Ganikale is a Scholar in Residence at the School of Arts and Creative Technologies (ACT) at the University of York, holding the Sir Jack Lyons Scholarship. He is a multi-disciplinary scholar-practitioner with over 20 years of experience in music production, performance, and education across Africa, Europe, and the Americas. His research focuses on mediating Jùjú music with modern technology to decolonize music pedagogy and preserve Yorùbá cultural heritage. He has performed globally, including at the British Library and the University of York's Jack Lyons Concert Series.

Education:

• PhD candidate (University of York)
• M.A. Creative Music Production (ICMP/UEL, Distinction)
• B.A. Music (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 2:1)
• Dip. Music Education (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Credit)

Research Interests: Integrating AI into music education, decolonizing music curricula, African popular music studies, and ethnomusicology. He emphasizes the role of technology in preserving Yorùbá cultural sonic identities while challenging Western-dominated music pedagogies.

Awards & Recognition:

• Recipient of The Sir Jack Lyons Scholarship

Grants & Projects:

• Lead researcher on AI technologies for Jùjú genre preservation
• 2023 Decolonising African Sounds workshop in Kenya

Labs/Initiatives: Active in the School of ACT's research seminars and collaborations, including workshops with the Creative Coding Lab (University of Huddersfield) and the Global Arts and Psychology Seminar.