Sarah J. Bartolome

Dr. Sarah J. Bartolome serves as Associate Professor of Music Education at Northwestern University, specializing in children's music and world music pedagogy. A certified Kodaly educator, she also directs the Evanston Children’s Choir and co-leads Northwestern's Music, Trauma, and the Breath Initiative.

Her academic credentials include:

• Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College
• Master of Music from Northwestern University (2002)
• Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Washington

Her research explores participatory music as social capital, world music pedagogy, gender-expansive frameworks, and trauma-informed methodologies. This work emphasizes music's role in community healing, particularly in post-conflict and therapeutic contexts, with fieldwork spanning Ghana, South Africa, Vietnam, and Lithuania.

Scholarly output centers on culturally responsive pedagogy, exemplified by her 2019 book and forthcoming gender-expansive education text. Publications in the Journal of Research in Music Education and International Journal of Community Music demonstrate interdisciplinary applications from classroom to clinical settings.

Key recognition includes:

• Fulbright Fellowship (2013) for research with Lithuanian folk ensembles

She directs the Buffett Institute-sponsored Music, Trauma, and the Breath Initiative investigating respiratory health through singing, alongside international fieldwork grants. Current projects include the Fontan Choir for pediatric heart patients and pandemic trauma mitigation research.

Her Evanston Children’s Choir leadership and Fontan Choir initiative demonstrate applied research in therapeutic music settings, with recent news coverage highlighting singing's physiological benefits for cardiac patients.