Rate My Professor Candace Kruger

Dr Candace Kruger, a Yugambeh Elder and Songwoman of Kombumerri (Gold Coast) and Ngugi (Moreton Island) descent, serves as Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University. She specializes in Indigenous Knowledges and Education, drawing on over 27 years of experience teaching music in primary and secondary schools. Her academic qualifications include a Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology and Indigenous Studies from Griffith University (2022), with the thesis titled “Yarrabil Girrebah: Singing Indigenous Language Alive”; a Master of Arts Research in Yugambeh Language and Song from Griffith University (2017), titled “In The Bora Ring: Yugambeh Language and Song Project – An Investigation into the Effects of Participation in the ‘Yugambeh Youth Choir’”; a Bachelor of Arts in Music; and a Graduate Diploma in Education. Gifted the custodianship of Songwoman in 1994 by her grandfather Sam Levinge, Kruger has focused her career on revitalizing Yugambeh language, stories, and music through educational initiatives and community programs.

Kruger is the founder and director of the Yugambeh Youth Aboriginal Corporation and choirmaster of the Yugambeh Youth Choir, established in 2014 to empower urban Indigenous youth via song practice in language. Key publications encompass her co-authored book Yugambeh Talga: Music Traditions of the Yugambeh People (2005); “A festival of song” in The Routledge Handbook of Festivals (2018); “Call to Yawahr: Opening a third space for collaborative music making between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities” (2022); the book chapter “Indigenous knowledges and learners” (2024); and “A theoretical conceptualisation of connection to culture in first year university students” (2024). Her research interests cover ethnomusicology, Aboriginal music, Indigenous pedagogy, knowledges, and education. The choir received the Queensland Reconciliation Award in 2016 for its impact on urban Indigenous youth. Additional contributions include co-composing “Morning Star and Evening Star” for the Australian Music Examinations Board National Online Orchestra (2021), delivering Welcome to Country ceremonies, workshops, public lectures, and serving on the Australian Association for Research in Education Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Researcher Executive Committee. Kruger's work advances Indigenous cultural preservation and educational equity.