Eric Galm is Professor of Music and Ethnomusicology, Chair of the Music Department, Co-Director of the Center for Caribbean Studies, Co-Chair of the Urban-Global Arts Initiative, and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Faculty Fellow. 

He founded the Trinity Samba Ensemble and the Samba Fest, an annual regional music festival that has presented the United States debut performances of several Brazilian artists. He has conducted research, presented, and performed in Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, the United States, and Canada.

He holds degrees in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan and Tufts universities, percussion performance from the University of Michigan, and performance certificates from the Escola Brasileira de Música and the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. 

His teaching is based on an interactive kinesthetic process that intertwines hands-on music making with academic inquiry. He believes that music-making processes can be related to other sociocultural aspects that help to define societies, and many of the topics that are explored in his music classes often directly connect with several disciplines throughout the college.

• The Berimbau:  Soul of Brazilian Music . University Press of Mississippi, 2010 (2011 Paperback).
• "How Verna Gillis Recorded 'Music from Everywhere.'" Smithsonian Folklife Magazine, March 14, 2023.
• "Global Identities of Capoeira and the Berimbau: Keeping it Brazilian Overseas" in Performing Brazil: Essays on Brazil, Identity, and the Performing Arts, Severino J. Albuquerque and Kathryn Bishop-Sanchez, eds. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2015.
• "Tension and 'Tradition:' Explorations of the Brazilian Berimbau by Naná Vasconcelos, Dinho Nascimento, and Ramiro Musotto." Luso Brazilian Review 48(1):79-99.  2011
• "Baianas, Malandros and Samba: Listening to Brazil Through Donald Duck's Ears." In Global Soundtracks: Worlds of Film Music, edited by Mark Slobin.  Wesleyan University Press, 2008
• Eric A., and John K. Galm. "Percussion Instruments of Brazil" (2nd Ed. Revised and expanded).  In Encyclopedia of Percussion, edited by John Beck, New York: Routledge, 2007.

• Speaker at Africana Sacred Healing Arts Conference, Yale Institute of Sacred Music, "A New Day Will Come: Intersections of Faith, Place, and Space, in the Brazilian Congado." New Haven, CT, 2022.
• Invited panelist and speaker for "Beyond the Ivory Tower," at the Scholarship and Social Justice Undergraduate Research Conference, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 2021.
• Featured Presenter, "Making a Difference Through Music Festivals: The Congado Mineiro in Hartford, CT," Music Festival Studies: Current Perspectives, Future Directions. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 2020.
• Invited speaker, "Listening to Cultural Connections Through Brazilian Music." Steppin' Out: TedX at Trinity College, Hartford, CT 2020.
• "Rhythmic Explorations of the Brazilian Congado Mineiro Connecting Africa, Portugal, and the Catholic Church." Enduring Slavery: Resistance, Public Memory & Transatlantic Archives. Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery, Schomburg Center, New York, NY, 2019.
• "Remembering the Past for the Future: An Exploration of the Congado Mineiro from Minas Gerais, Brazil." Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting, Bloomington, IN, 2019.
• "Forgotten Voices: Rediscovering the 1950s Brazilian Folklore Commission in São Paulo." New England Council for Latin American Studies, New London, CT, 2019.
• Keynote Speaker/Featured Presenter: "Rhythmic Reflections: The Power of Music to Transcend Language and Culture." Bloomfield Public Schools Convocation, Bloomfield, CT, 2018.
• Invited Speaker by the Brazilian Embassy of Cuba: "El Congado Mineiro: Una Semilla de Resistencia Musical de la Cultura Negra en Brasil." Gabinete de Patrimônio Musical Esteban Salas, University of Havana, Havana, Cuba, 2018.
• Featured Presenter, "Apresentando uma Missa Conga nos Estados Unidos." City of Itabira City Council Chambers, Itabira, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2018.
• "Building Community in Challenging Times: The Power of Music to Transcend Language and Culture." Friday Café, sponsored by the CT State Department of Education, Capitol Region Education Council and the State Education Resource Center, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, 2018.
• Invited Presenter, "O Berimbau: Pensamentos Sobre a Escrita Musical, a Própria Musica, e a Brasilidade: Como Ele Tornou-se um Símbolo da Identidade Nacional Brasileira." I.M. Izabela Hendrix, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2017.
• Invited lecture and guest artist with the Meninos de Minas at the 41º Festival de Inferno Itabira, Itabira, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2015.
• Invited Presenter, "O Berimbau e a Brasilidade: Pensamento de Como um Arco Musical Tornou-se um Símbolo da Identidade Nacional Brasileira." International Seminar on Educational Research: Theory and Practice, State University of Piauí, Teresina, Brazil, 2014.
• "Bomba y Plena go to College." Boricua Rhythms: Puerto Rico and its Music. SUNY/Albany, NY, 2012.
• "Play Your Way Through Brazil: Exploring Samba Through Brazilian Percussion." Conference for Educators: Incorporating South America Through The Curriculum.  University of Connecticut.  Storrs, CT, 2012.
• Invited Speaker, "Latin American Music and Culture:  Three Distinct Approaches."  Primary Source Institute on Latin America, Watertown, MA, 2010.
• Invited Speaker, "Expressions of the Pan-African Musical Experience:  Omar Sosa and the Afreecanos Quartet."  Pre-concert lecture for Grammy-Nominated Afro-Cuban musician, Omar Sosa.  Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, 2009.
• "From Folklore to Funk:  The Berimbau’s Omnipresence in Time and Space in Brazilian Popular Music."  Society for Ethnomusicology Southwest Chapter, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 2009.

• Artists Respond Grant, Connecticut Office of the Arts, 2022
• National Finalist, Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award,2021
• Steve Balcanoff Award for Community Engagement, Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance, 2020
• Trinity College Trustee Award for Faculty Excellence, 2018
• Honorary Citizen, City of Itabira, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2018
• Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Research Grant, 2017 
• Arthur H. Hughes Award for Teaching Achievement, 2009
• Trinity College Faculty Research Grants, 2006, 2008, 2015
• Mellon Foundation Global-Urban Initiative Award at Trinity College, 2006, 2007
• Trinity College Community Learning Initiative Course Development Award, 2005
• Wesleyan University Dissertation Write up Award, 2001
• Fulbright Grant for Research in Brazil, 2000-2001
• Visiting Scholar at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 2000-2001
• Marilla MacDill Prize for Teaching Excellence and Community Service, Community Music Center of Boston, 1995