Pete Shungu

Peter (Pete) Shungu is a lifelong musician and educator who joined the School of Music Music Education area in August 2022. In addition to teaching courses in music education, he also oversees the School’s student teacher placement program, and serves as one of the directors of FAA’s Hip Hop Innovation Center. Pete has taught Music, English, History, Service-Learning and other subjects on both the high school and university level in several different locations, including Champaign, Illinois, Boston, Massachusetts, Brooklyn, New York, and Colima, Mexico. He comes to the U of I from Central High School in Champaign, where he taught for three years as an ESL/Bilingual Education teacher. He is a “Double Jumbo,” having earned a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a Master of Arts in Teaching, both from Tufts University in Massachusetts. In addition, he holds teaching endorsements in ESL and Bilingual Education, and he is trilingual, speaking English, Spanish, and French.

Pete was born in New Jersey to a father from the heartland of Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo) and a mother from the heartland of the U.S. (Kansas). He is a trumpet and piano player, and a hip-hop MC and spoken word poet. He is also the bandleader of Champaign-Urbana-based group Afro D and Global Soundwaves, a 7-piece blend of jazz, funk, soul and socially-conscious hip-hop. He has taught hip hop music to youth in a variety of settings, including at the University of Illinois’s ISYM Hip Hop Camp. Pete’s past experience with UIUC also includes three years working in the Office of Student Financial Aid. Pete and his wife Melissa are proud parents to four children: Paula, Malia, Naima, and Isaac.