Andrew J. Eisenberg is an Associate Professor of Music at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and a Global Network Associate Professor at NYU New York. He holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology from Columbia University and has conducted extensive research on East African music, sound culture, and urban sociocultural dynamics. His work bridges humanistic and computational approaches, co-founding NYUAD’s Music and Sound Cultures (MaSC) research group. He is affiliated with the departments of Music and Anthropology at NYU and administers the Arab Music Studies minor. Education: BMus (New York University), MA and PhD (Columbia University). Research Interests: Eisenberg specializes in the anthropology of music and sound, focusing on African popular music, Swahili coastal musical traditions, and the intersection of music with capitalism, space, and citizenship. His first monograph, Sound of Other Shores (2024), examines identity formations in Mombasa through musical poetics. Current projects include studies of Nairobi’s music industry and computational analysis of Swahili taarab. Key Contributions: Eisenberg established the Andrew Eisenberg Collection of East African Commercial Sound Recordings, digitizing over 500 historical recordings. He collaborates with institutions like the Dhow Countries Music Academy in Zanzibar to preserve cultural heritage. His research on digital media’s impact on African music sectors has been widely cited. Awards: Jaap Kunst Prize (2018), Richard Waterman Prize (2012), and fellowships from the Bayreuth Academy and NYUAD’s Research Enhancement Fund. His interdisciplinary work has been featured in Music in Africa , Music, Sound, and Space , and Journal of African Cultural Studies . Teaching: Eisenberg teaches courses on the anthropology of music, cultural appropriation, and audiovisual ethnography. He leads NYUAD’s Music Program and oversees capstone projects. Labs/Initiatives: MaSC research group develops hybrid methodologies for analyzing Gulf, East African, and South Indian musics. Recent projects include the Swahili Musical Imagination exploring transculturation via computational methods.









