Donna Armstrong is the chair’s assistant for The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Department of Ethnomusicology, where she has worked since 1995. She supports the chair and works collaboratively with faculty and staff to ensure the smooth daily operation of the department.

Before coming to the Department of Ethnomusicology, she worked for the UCLA Department of Art as a student affairs officer and before that she worked for the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center and the UCLA Department of African American Studies (previously the Center for Afro-American Studies) as assistant administrative analyst.

Donna studied classical piano during her youth and continues to practice when time allows. She also studied the dance and music of various cultures in Central and West Africa, beginning in the late 1970s. She thus deeply understands the concept of “bi-musicality,” the pedagogical philosophy that was named in 1960 by UCLA Institute of Ethnomusicology founder Mantle Hood.