Donna Gallo

Dr. Donna Gallo is an Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on topics related to elementary school music, curriculum and instruction, research, and disability studies. Gallo was previous on faculty at Westminster Choir College (Princeton, NJ) and taught K-6 general/choral music in Virginia and Connecticut. Her research interests include music educator professional development, creative music making, songwriting, and popular music practices in elementary school contexts. Gallo has published research in Music Education Research, Journal of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Music Education, Music Educators Journal, and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. She has also presented research and practitioner-oriented sessions at numerous national and international conferences and has been an invited clinician/workshop facilitator for various school districts and organizations both nationally and internationally. Gallo’s public engagement includes collaborations with local P-12 music educators for which she facilitates professional development workshops and partnerships related to creative music making and songwriting. Many of these projects were funded by grants from the university and other professional organizations. She completed two years of study at the Kodály Institute in Kesckemét, Hungary where she was awarded the International Kodály Society Scholarship. Gallo taught Kodály Level III in various U.S. certification programs and earned her Orff Level II certification. She served on the editorial board of the AOSA Orff Echo and is a current editorial board member for the Music Educators Journal.