Benjamin Fairfield served in the Peace Corps (Thailand) and received his MA and PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he serves as lecturer and founder of the award-winning MUS311 Thai Ensemble (a sustainability-focused course where students repurpose found objects into Thai musical instruments). His debut children’s book about repurposing rubbish into musical instruments, Kani Ka ‘Opala: How can garbage sing?, is available from University of Hawaii Press. He has also composed, recorded, and produced several albums using only his instruments made from junk, including a collection of songs from The Orphan’s Harp played on homemade Tehnaku.