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Two new CM Documentaries

Through my research project Community Music in Canada, we’ve published two documentaries on incredible community music projects. I’ll introduce them below, but you can view all documentaries on our Youtube channel @CommunityMusicinCanada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnqB-hE_dEo Published today! Unity Charity is a national charity dedicated to empowering youth through hip hop. Clinton and Adrian describe their programs and the need for facilitators to be excellent in their craft while also holding space for community. https://youtu.be/_jW8XtXg5Ag?si=D2TEv0CrOt_-QqIE Kehewin Native Dance Theatre, based in central Alberta, has advanced Indigenous culture through youth-focused performances for over 30 years. This documentary follows their first music creation project, Naskwahamâtowin.

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CM in Canada featured in Promenade radio show

Thrilled to be interviewed by Waterloo Region’s own Martin DeGroot on the show Promenade, as part of the community station Midtown Radio. Martin spoke with myself and Samantha Tai on our Community Music in Canada project (now with 5 micro-documentaries released!). I spoke about the research project, where we went, the purpose, and hopes for the future. Sam spoke about her work as Technical Director and Research Assistant. You can catch the episode (released October 28, 20204) on Spotify. Check out Midtown Radio for lots of excellent programming for the Kitchener-Waterloo Region.

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CM micro-docs published!

I’m excited to announce that we have published the first four micro-documentaries within the research project Community Music in Canada. You can view them all on our YouTube channel Community Music in Canada. Here’s brief overview of the amazing people and projects in these four short documentaries. https://youtu.be/6Wxh80JpN4s?si=BTPiGz8TDLVGORnI Nour Kaadan and Tarek Ghriri, the founders of Music from Hope, offer creative music workshops for refugee youth in Toronto and Beirut. The musicians use sound, songwriting, body percussion, and nonviolent communication to encourage interaction between participants.  https://youtu.be/dSOVzQ3QIMY?si=bxLRmWLvG3YmDi_u VAMS offers music lessons, recording sessions, and live performance opportunities for disabled musicians in… Read More »CM micro-docs published!

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Featured in Magazine

My research was featured in an article in The Broadview Magazine. The article, Singing Together Makes Beautiful Music – and Social Change, was written by Tamed Shafiq, in which he describes his experience singing in a Toronto community choir to unpack associations between singing, community building, and social change. He interviewed me extensively for this article, asking me about the value of group singing, and about my research on the emergence of community music schools in Progressive Era Toronto. I was delighted to contribute to this article! Read the full article online.

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New publication out!

I am part of a five-year opera creation project Reflective Iterative Scenario Reenactments (RISE). I collaborated with Cynthia Kinnunen, a Laurier graduate student and an incredible music educator specializing in ukulele (although good at a lot of things!). Together we incorporated community members into the opera creation process of two projects. Cynthia and I found it really challenging to incorporate participatory music practices into the opera creation processes. In part, we began the project at the height of the pandemic, when no one could gather. Another difficult aspect is that even when gathering became possible, most of the project team… Read More »New publication out!

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CM in Canada: more visits

The research team has visited 6 sites by the end of 2023. Our most recent was the Community Music School of Waterloo Region, an incredible school that provides free music lessons to kids and youth who can’t otherwise access these opportunities. Most students are referred by social service agencies or schools, and many come from newcomer families. We anticipate launching our first micro-documentaries before Christmas, in partnership with the PCM Hub at the Canadian New Music Network. Stay tuned!

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Community Music in Canada: in the field!

In the summer of 2023, I worked with 3 research assistants to conduct video-based research with leading community musicians in Canada.

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Community Music in Higher Education

In June 2021, I gave a flash presentation on my program here at Wilfrid Laurier University: the Bachelor of Music specialization in community music. I could talk much longer (and have in other speeches), but this offers a five-minute overview of a few key possibilities and challenges of opening up music training at the university level to applicants who have not been trained in classical music or in conservatory-style music education.

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Personal Pandemic: A Socially Distanced Opera

I’m part of a research-creation team led by Eldad Tsabary (Concordia University). We’ve just released our first mini-opera: Personal Pandemic. This was entirely created, rehearsed, and recorded during lockdown. Nobody was ever able to be in the same room together. I think the results are excellent–the concept is that the viewer sees the lead character’s desk top, experiencing the story through her music production and messaging. The opera uses classic bel canto opera as well as hip hop, and incorporates choral components. I am so proud to be a part of this project, bending the rules of opera, and really… Read More »Personal Pandemic: A Socially Distanced Opera

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Spring Arrives with a new look

Spring is here, along with a new look for the web site! My deep thanks to Research Assistant Samantha Tai who really made this happen.  The new web site, and the onset of spring both have me thinking about newness in this particular moment of ongoing sameness, brought on by a global pandemic and 3rd lockdown (here in Ontario) that confines us to our house except for essential trips and exercise.  So I spend most of my waking hours in my little basement corner working. And while I do different activities through my day from teaching seminar courses to leading… Read More »Spring Arrives with a new look

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