Lecturer in Ethnomusicology
ABOUT
Dimitris Gkoulimaris is a lecturer in ethnomusicology at the Butler School of Music, and an adjunct professor at Austin Community College. He completed his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at The University of Texas in Austin in the Spring of 2026. He received his bachelor’s degree in music composition and popular music studies from Northwestern University, where he graduated summa cum laude. He researches the musical practices of Greece, Türkiye, and the Eastern Mediterranean, with a secondary focus on the music of Latin America. He has presented his research at conferences in the US, Mexico, and Romania. At UT Austin, he served as a teaching assistant from 2021 to 2024, and as an assistant instructor during the 2024-2025 academic year, when he led his own courses in popular music. During the 2025-2025 academic year, he was awarded the COFA/Graduate School Academic Excellence Fellowship, to work towards the completion of his dissertation—an ethnography of traditional music seminars in Greece and Turkey.
Dimitris is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer and sound engineer. He has performed professionally since the age of 15, in various genres from rock and pop to Greek, Turkish, and Arabic music. He has performed with UT’s Middle Eastern Ensemble “Bereket” since 2021. He was also a member of UT’s Hispanic Caribbean Ensemble from 2022 to 2026. Off-campus, Dimitris is an active gigging musician in Austin’s vibrant international music scene, and a devoted educator of the maqam traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean. In 2016, Dimitris received a degree in classical percussion with highest honors from the Municipal Conservatory of Thermi, Greece, and he has since shifted his performance focus onto lute-family instruments such as oud, buzuq, folk guitar, Greek laouto, Turkish saz, Afghan rubab, and others.
COURSES
MUS 303M
Introduction to Music in World Cultures\
MUS 307-2
History of Rock Music
MUS 381
Reference and Research Methods in Music
MUS 312C
Music and Culture
Recent Publications
"Falling in Love with Sound: Affect and Pedagogy in Aegean Music Seminars." Ethnomousikologion Nr. 7 (2/2025, vol. IV), pp. 43-49.
Report - 9th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe
Dimitris Gkoulimaris is a lecturer in ethnomusicology at the Butler School of Music, and an adjunct professor at Austin Community College. He completed his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at The University of Texas in Austin in the Spring of 2026. He received his bachelor’s degree in music composition and popular music studies from Northwestern University, where he graduated summa cum laude. He researches the musical practices of Greece, Türkiye, and the Eastern Mediterranean, with a secondary focus on the music of Latin America. He has presented his research at conferences in the US, Mexico, and Romania. At UT Austin, he served as a teaching assistant from 2021 to 2024, and as an assistant instructor during the 2024-2025 academic year, when he led his own courses in popular music. During the 2025-2025 academic year, he was awarded the COFA/Graduate School Academic Excellence Fellowship, to work towards the completion of his dissertation—an ethnography of traditional music seminars in Greece and Turkey.
Dimitris is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer and sound engineer. He has performed professionally since the age of 15, in various genres from rock and pop to Greek, Turkish, and Arabic music. He has performed with UT’s Middle Eastern Ensemble “Bereket” since 2021. He was also a member of UT’s Hispanic Caribbean Ensemble from 2022 to 2026. Off-campus, Dimitris is an active gigging musician in Austin’s vibrant international music scene, and a devoted educator of the maqam traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean. In 2016, Dimitris received a degree in classical percussion with highest honors from the Municipal Conservatory of Thermi, Greece, and he has since shifted his performance focus onto lute-family instruments such as oud, buzuq, folk guitar, Greek laouto, Turkish saz, Afghan rubab, and others.
MUS 303M
Introduction to Music in World Cultures\
MUS 307-2
History of Rock Music
MUS 381
Reference and Research Methods in Music
MUS 312C
Music and Culture
"Falling in Love with Sound: Affect and Pedagogy in Aegean Music Seminars." Ethnomousikologion Nr. 7 (2/2025, vol. IV), pp. 43-49.
Report - 9th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe
Contact Information
Email address
dg42564@
MRH 3.712
Teaching Areas
Ethnomusicology
Research Areas
Musics of Greece, Turkey, the Balkans, & the Middle East
Musics of Latin America
Theories of nationalism & cosmopolitanism
Musical economies
Tourism studies
Education
Doctor of Philosophy
The University of Texas at Austin
Master of Music
The University of Texas at Austin
Bachelor of Music
Northwestern University