Althea SullyCole is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and ethnomusicologist from New York City.

Althea SullyCole is a multi-instrumentalist, ethnomusicologist, and researcher whose music focuses on West African and other musical traditions. She plays the kora, a 21-stringed West African harp, and has performed with many renowned musicians. She also creates audio content, including a weekly podcast called The Earfull.

Althea is currently an Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montréal, QC. She was previously an Assistant Professor of Music at California State University, Monterey Bay. Althea received her PhD in ethnomusicology from Columbia University in February of 2023; an MA in ethnomusicology from Columbia University in 2018; an MA with distinction in Music in Development at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 2016; and a B.A. in ethnomusicology at Barnard College in 2012.

Althea studied her primary instrument, the kora, a 21-stringed West African harp, under korists Yacouba Sissoko and Edou Manga. She spent 3 years studying the instrument in Dakar, Senegal, where she was a resident artist at Bois Sakre studios. In addition to her solo work, she has worked with Billy Harper, Billy Bang, Fred Ho, Sahad Sarr, Daara J Family, Faada Freddy, Royal Messenger, LaFrae Sci, Lisette Santiago, Joseph Daley, Craig Harris and father Bill Cole (in his Untempered Ensemble), among others. In 2015, Althea formed the duo 42 Strings alongside traditional Chinese zheng player, Muqi Li, with whom she performed at Royal Albert Hall and on BBC 3 Radio. More recently, she performed at the Apollo Theatre in New York City with LaFrae Sci’s Groove Diplomacy Orchestra; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. with Lisette Santiago’s project “In Her Voice”; and at the John L. Tishman Auditorium at the New School in New York City with Craig Harris’s project “Festac ’77?”. In addition to these special projects, you can find Althea performing solo and with her trio (with guitarist Alec Saelens and sax/flute player Ras Moshe).

The kora is a West African stringed instrument that is a cross between a harp, lute, and guitar. It is played by plucking the strings with the thumb and forefinger of each hand.