Internal Research Fellows
Internal Fellows hold academic appointments with Wilfrid Laurier University. This includes full-time or part-time faculty members at Laurier University who have a demonstrated interest in the research agenda and/or activities of the Laurier Centre for Music in the Community, who request to the director to be an internal fellow, and whose request has been accepted by LCMC. The result of the application will be communicated in writing by the Director. Internal Fellows can hold their position for three-year terms with possibility of renewal. Part-time members must be employed by Laurier each year to continue in the internal fellow appointment with the centre.
Kimberly Barber
Professor, Faculty of Music
Kimberly Barber has performed internationally in an eclectic and varied repertoire on the great opera house and concert stages of the world, as well as with smaller, experimental companies.
As a guest lecturer, panellist, consultant, and pedagogue, she gives master classes and workshops worldwide at universities, conservatories and Young Artist Programs. As Professor of Voice in Laurier’s Faculty of Music and a Licensed Body Mapping Educator®, Kimberly teaches, presents and publishes on these principles at conferences, in workshop settings, and as a cornerstone of her pedagogy in the voice studio. Her research focuses on the efficacy of Body Mapping, and collaborative and community pedagogy in music training.
Website: kimberlybarber.com
Instagram: @singandself
Linkedin: @kimberlybarber
Amy Clements-Cortez
Faculty of Music
Amy Clements-Cortes, PhD, RP, MT-BC, MTC is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto, Instructor/Supervisor, Wilfrid Laurier University, a credentialed Music Therapist, Registered Psychotherapist and a Fellow in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music, and Neurologic Music Therapy. She is the Managing Editor of the Music and Medicine Journal and Research and Ethics Chair of the World Federation of Music Therapy (WFMT). Her research contributions include: relationship completion for individuals at end-of-life, vibroacoustic therapy and singing protocols for persons diagnosed with dementia, experiences in music therapy internships and telehealth.
Linkedin: @amyclements-cortez
ORC ID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5855-4802
Karen Cyrus
Faculty of Music
Dr. Karen Cyrus has extensive experience and research in Afrodiasporic community music practices, Pan-African children’s repertoire, and social justice in music education. A graduate of York University, Karen holds a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology, and a Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music in Teaching piano. At the heart of Karen’s musical and academic experience is an emphasis on the past, present and future influence and representation of Black musicians, researchers, and music educators. Karen also specializes in the principles and best practices of collaborative research and research collaborations.
Debbie Lou Ludolph
Dean of Chapel; Director, Kanata Centre for Worship and Global Song; Instructor, Practical Theology
Debbie Lou Ludolph brings experience in musical theatre, vocal pedagogy, congregational and community singing, and ritual to LCMC. Working since 2007 at Martin Luther University College, Debbie Lou teaches courses and initiates projects at the intersection of spirituality, justice, culture and the arts. As director of the Kanata Centre, she leads the Inshallah singing community, oversees the curation of rotating art exhibitions, and collaborates with LCMC on Sing Fires of Justice public gatherings. Research projects have involved collaborations with LCMC on the Mel Brown Festival and Symposium and Sing Fires of Justice, as well as ethnographic studies and narrative inquiry regarding community singing. Debbie Lou’s dissertation (2021) is entitled, “Singing difference amid relational connectedness: How singing together shapes worldview,” and with the Inshallah team she has published two songbooks: Sing the Circle Wide (2016) and Sing the Journey Deep (2024).
Mariette Stephenson
Faculty of Music
Mariette is a Canadian guitarist who has performed in numerous recitals as a soloist and chamber musician. Her recent musical collaborations include Ekleipsis Guitar Trio (with Lukas Bouda and Andrew Laughton) and Duo Calixa (with flautist Kelly Williamson). Mariette is the Music Director for the Kitchener/Waterloo Guitar Orchestra, an amateur community guitar ensemble that performs outreach concerts locally, and a music arranger with publications available at Strings By Mail and the Austin Guitar Curriculum. They teach guitar in the Bachelor of Music (Community Music Program) at Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Waterloo Music Department (studio), and for local music studios. Mariette holds a Masters of Music (University of Toronto) and an ARCT (Royal Conservatory of Music), and is a clinician and adjudicator at festivals throughout southern Ontario. Mariette is passionate about uncovering women's contributions to music, especially guitar, and through her research, aims to share their rich and often overlooked legacy. Listen to Mariette’s podcast Classical Guitar Heroines on any streaming platform.
Website: mariettestephenson.com
Instagram: @infomariette
Lee Willingham
Faculty of Music; inaugural LCMC Director
Since 2004 Lee has been fulltime faculty at Laurier's Faculty of Music where he coordinates the music education, MA in community music programs and co-coordinates the PhD Music program. Previously he was on the faculty of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Curriculum Coordinator, Music, Scarborough Board of Education, and Head of Music at Agincourt Collegiate. Since coming to Laurier Lee has provided leadership in establishing the Laurier Centre for Community Music as well as the MA and PhD in Community Music. He co-authored Engaging in Community Music (Routledge) and edited Community Music at the Boundaries (WLU Press), both widely used as textbooks and resource materials for students in higher education.
Deanna Yerichuk
Faculty of Music, LCMC Director
Deanna Yerichuk has dedicated her academic and music career to community-engaged social change. As a researcher, Deanna investigates inclusion and justice in cross-cultural collaborations through music, specializing in participatory research, document analysis, and arts-based research methods. As a performer, Deanna has worked as a singer-songwriter, conductor, actor across Canada. As a community musician, she led the voice and choral department at Dixon Hall Music School (Toronto) for five years, and was a frequent guest conductor for Echo Women’s Choir (Toronto), and worked with Sing for Life (Edmonton) to pilot music classes for mothers in conflict with the law.
Website: yerichuk.com
Instagram: @yerichuk
Bluesky: @yerichuk.bsky.social
Gerard Yun
Faculty of Music
Peoples of difference, musics of difference, people of colour, world musics, art and cultural musics, classical music. All of these terms to Dr. Yun represent and affect the way we perceive our world. Gerard works as a practitioner and scholar who walks the margins and boundaries of musics, arts, spiritualities, justice, and community. He seeks to bring renewed emphasis to ways of knowing that focus on common humanity and common good to offset a world fascinated with difference and the creating of “others.” As a multi-instrumentalist, culture carrier, and lineage holder, Gerard feels great responsibility in bringing musical ways together within intercultural ethical frameworks with the intent of creating musical opportunities capable of embracing our many ways of knowing.
Website: gerardyunteaching.com