OUR MANDATE
The CMEC Research Advisory Board brings together Canadian-based researchers with national and international records of excellence in fields pertaining to and/or intersecting with music education.
RAB members will offer their expertise, rooted in sound, evidence-based research trends, toward critical review, support, and validation of research and advocacy efforts, ensuring our initiatives remain current and relevant.
MEMBERS
Assistant Professor of Music Education
(he/him)
Lloyd is a musician, teacher, and researcher. He is Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Lethbridge and is completing his PhD dissertation at University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music. His doctoral thesis explores the intersection of independent (indie) musicianship and serious leisure, and the ways in which such learning relates to institutional endeavours of music education. Other areas of research include identifying barriers to musical learning and devising ways to address discrepancies in opportunities through more widespread, inclusive access. Outside of academia, Lloyd works, creates, and facilitates others’ learning as a DIY-focused musician and educator. For the past decade, he has been spending most of his musical time composing, recording, producing, and performing as a guitarist and saxophonist in the band Lost Cousins. Prior to his appointment at the University of Lethbridge, Lloyd taught courses in popular music and music education at the University of Toronto, as well as in Montessori schools and other community settings.
(she/her)
Kari K. Veblen was professor of music education at Western University, where she taught undergraduate and graduate courses such as foundations of music education, cultural and Canadian perspectives, music for children, and qualitative research methods. She served as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research from 2010 to 2012 and Assistant Dean of Research from 2012 to 2013.
Thus far her career spans four decades including stints as elementary music teacher, community musician, curriculum consultant to orchestras and schools, faculty member at UW-Stevens Point, visiting scholar (Center for Research in Music Education, University of Toronto, Canada), and research associate (Irish World Music Centre, University of Limerick, Ireland). Dr. Veblen holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Knox College, and both masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Veblen has served in numerous professional capacities, including the International Society for Music Education board, and as co-founder and associate editor of the International Journal of Community Music. She has presented over 275 peer-reviewed conference papers and invited lectures/workshops throughout North America, Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, South Africa, and New Zealand.
Research interests include community music networks, both face-to-face and online; lifespan music learning; Irish/Celtic traditional transmission; and vernacular genres.Author, co-author and co-editor of four books, and over 80 peer-reviewed chapters, articles and conference papers, her latest book project is the Oxford Handbook of Social Media and Music Learning (with Janice Waldron and Stephanie Horsley). Kari Veblen is recipient with Janice Waldron (University of Windsor) of a 2017–2021 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Grant for their study entitled: “Canadian Scottish Pipe Bands as On and Offline Convergent Communities of Practice.”
Acting Vice-Dean Academic, College of Arts & Science/Associate Professor Choral/Music Education
(she/her)
Dr. Jennifer Lang is an Associate Professor of Music Education and the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Saskatchewan. She is a co-lead for the University of Saskatchewan’s newly recognized Signature Area in Health & Wellness and serves as the Pillar Lead for Music, Arts, and Wellbeing. Dr. Lang has been awarded the College of Arts & Science Publicly Engaged Scholar Award for Research, Scholarly, and Artistic Work and she has received the 2020 USSU teaching award. She is the Graduate Chair and organizer of the Department of Music’s Music Education in Action Series, the founder and organizer of the uSing uSask Choral Festival, the conductor of the Greystone Singers and the Founder and Artistic Director of Aurora Voce. Her choirs regularly perform with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and other celebrated ensembles and composers. Dr. Lang has adjudicated most recently at the Saskatchewan Music Festival in Saskatoon and Regina in 2023; the Manitoba ChoralFest in 2022; Cantando Festival 2019 in Alberta; ChorFest 2019 in Saskatchewan; the Moose Jaw Band and Choral Festival 2019; ChoralFest North 2018 in Alberta; 2017 Cantando Sun Peaks Festival in British Columbia; and ChorFest 2016 in Saskatchewan. Her forthcoming edited book, Music and wellbeing in education and community contexts, presents a variety of contributed chapters exploring the intersections of music education and wellbeing. Prior to completing her doctorate, Jennifer served as a program leader of vocal and instrumental secondary school music with the District of Niagara Arts Academy in the District School Board of Niagara.
Dr. Lang’s research examines engagement and agency in music education programs, including informal music learning in a variety of educational contexts, music creation in the classroom, and intergenerational singing programs. Jennifer is also active as a conductor, choral adjudicator, clinician and conference presenter with local, provincial, national, and international invitations. Dr. Lang has adjudicated most recently at Cantando Festival 2019 in Alberta; ChorFest 2019 in Saskatchewan; the Moose Jaw Band and Choral Festival 2019 in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan; ChoralFest North 2018 in Alberta; 2017 Cantando Sun Peaks Festival in British Columbia; and ChorFest 2016 in Saskatchewan. Her recent international conference presentations include: International Symposium on the Sociology of Music Education (2023, 2021, 2019, 2013); Research in Music Education (2023, 2019, 2017, 2015); Choral Canada’s Podium (2022, 2018), Progressive Methods in Music Education (2018); and the International Society for Music Education (2022, 2016, 2014, 2012).
Artistic Works
Dr. Lang is active as a conductor, choral adjudicator, clinician and conference presenter with local, provincial, national, and international invitations having adjudicated most recently at ChoralFest North 2018 in Alberta, 2017 Cantando Sun Peaks Festival in British Columbia, and ChorFest 2016 in Saskatchewan.
Director, DAN School of Drama and Music; Associate Professor
(she/her)
My research examines the intersections between community contexts and teaching and learning in the arts. I use qualitative methods to examine studio, school, and community music education programs. My research has been generously supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, The Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Foundation of Innovation, and the Music Education Consortium.
I am currently a Co-PI with Dr. Colleen Renihan on a SSHRC sponsored research-creation project that relies on literature from music education, musicology, and music theatre performance to examine the development of music theatre programs. This research examines both the musicking process and products based on observations of the sessions and interviews with participants and instructors. Through this research we aim to increase capacity and best practices for supporting individuals of all abilities and ages in music theatre and challenge and expand current notions of student, teacher, performer, and creator. The Creation aspect of this research encompasses both the development of the programs as well as the creation of new pieces of music theatre that are created. Find out more about Rise, Shine, Sing! on our website: https://www.riseshinesing.ca/
Associate Professor, Faculty of Education
(he/him)
Dr. Benjamin Bolden, music educator and composer, is an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University. His research interests include the learning and teaching of composing, creativity, community music, arts-based research, Web 2.0 technologies in education, teacher knowledge, and teachers’ professional learning. As a teacher, Ben has worked with pre-school, elementary, secondary, and university students in Canada, England, and Taiwan. Ben is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre and his compositions have been performed by a variety of professional and amateur performing ensembles. Ben was editor of the Canadian Music Educator, journal of the Canadian Music Educators’ Association/L’Association canadienne des musiciens éducateurs, from 2007-2014. He is the proud father of three rascally boys.
Assistant Professor, School of Education
(she/her)
Katie completed her PhD at University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and has 10 years of K-12 classroom teaching experience in Grade 7&8. She is the Co-Vice President for the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, Arts Researchers and Teachers Special Interest Group. She is also on the Board of Directors for the Ontario Music Educators’ Association. Her research area includes curriculum studies with an additional focus on decolonizing music education.
associate professor of music education
(he/him)
adam patrick bell is an associate professor of music education. He is the author of Dawn of the DAW (Oxford, 2018) and editor of the Music Technology Cookbook (2020). adam is the editor of Canadian Music Educator and serves on the editorial boards of International Journal of Music Education, Journal of Music, Technology & Education, Journal of Popular Music Education, TOPICS, and Visions of Research in Music Education. Currently, adam is the principal investigator of three projects funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), including “Disability-Led Musical Instrument Design” (Insight Grant), “Canadian Accessible Musical Instruments Network” (Partnership Development Grant), and “Facilitating Anti-Ableist Remote Music Making” (Race, Gender and Diversity Initiative).
Associate Professor, Department of Arts, Culture and Media, University of Toronto Scarborough
Roger Mantie is Associate Professor, Department of Arts, Culture and Media at University of Toronto Scarborough, with a graduate appointment at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. His teaching and scholarship focus on connections between education and wellness, with an emphasis on lifelong engagement in and with music and the arts. Roger is the author of Music, Leisure, Education: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives (2021), co-author of Education, Music, and the Social Lives of Undergraduates: Collegiate A Cappella and the Pursuit of Happiness (2020), and co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Technology and Music Education (2017) and the Oxford Handbook of Music Making and Leisure (2016). Complete information at rogermantie.com.
Associate Professor of Music Education, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto
she/her/ôu
Born and raised in Iran, I am a newcomer settler working in the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, as an Associate Professor of Music Education. My research areas include equity and politics of contemporary music education, cultural studies, and popular music, as well as anarchism, activism, and improvisation in music education scenes. Concluding a longitudinal research on the music education of rock musicians in Iran, I have recently begun research examining the impact of cultural programs provided for the refugee newcomer populations in Canada. Moreover, two of my colleagues and I have developed an arts-based participatory action research to articulate the issues arts workers and arts organizations are facing, build upon constructive solutions already identified by the arts sector for the cultural workforce in response to current circumstances, and map out next steps for the arts and higher education sectors in the Toronto, Ontario, and Canada to build more equitable spaces for arts workers to work and thrive. A podcast series and an interactive traveling art exhibition including community members and artists will be two of the outcomes of this research. I hold degrees from Northwestern University, New York University, Kingston University, London, and University of Art, Tehran.
Professor of Psychology
University of Montreal
Dr. Peretz is a professor of Psychology at the University of Montreal and the co-holder of a Casavant Research chair in neurocognition of music. Her research focuses on the musical potential of ordinary people, its neural correlates, its heritability and its specificity relative to language. She is renowned for her work on congenital and acquired musical disorders (amusia) and on the biological foundations of music processing in general. She has published over 270 scientific papers on a variety of topics in neurocognition of music, from perception, memory, and emotions to singing and dancing. Dr. Peretz has recently published a book for the lay audience on “How music sculpts our brain” to better understand how the process of learning music impacts the brain. The book enlightens us on the main findings of more possible, into actionable recommendations directly applicable to the music room. It makes the main findings of the neuroscience of music accessible to all those involved in music education —aspiring musicians, professors, learning adults, parents, or educational advisors.
Dr. Anita Prest, University of Victoria
Dr. Isabelle Peretz, University of Montreal