Research Track
Moderators
Lee Willingham
Dr. Lee Willingham has been a fulltime faculty member of Laurier's Faculty of Music since 2004, where he coordinates the MA in Community Music and along with Heidi Ahonen has developed and leads the new PhD Music program. Lee is a lifelong music educator who has advanced the vision of community music in Canada and internationally.
Heidi Ahonen
Heidi Ahonen, PhD., RP, MTA, FAMI. Professor of music therapy; Coordinator of PhD programme (Music Therapy). Wilfrid Laurier University.
Researchers
Laura Carroll
Attachment Theory in Music Therapy
Laura is a 2nd year PhD student at Laurier, thrilled to be studying attachment theory in music therapy. She has worked as a music therapist and psychotherapist for 5 years since graduating from the Master of Music Therapy Program, also at Laurier. Laura is fully immersed in academia and enjoying every moment of it!
Nathan Stretch
In-Flux: music in public spaces
Nathan is the Division Mgr, Community Development at Kitchener Public Library where he oversees the Heffner Recording Studios and Commons Studio film-making project, Fundraising, Well-Being and Community Connections teams, and Events. Nathan is a PhD candidate, holds an MA in Community Music and is a Canadian lecturer, musician, multi-genre artist, arts administrator, and community advocate.
Andrea Lamont
Phenomenological exploration of Music Therapy in the Context of Pediatric Rehabilitation: An International Perspective
Andrea Lamont, MSC, RP, MTA, works as a Music Therapist, Coordinator, Clinical Education Liaison, and content expert to interdisciplinary research projects at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Andrea also teaches and provides clinical supervision for the music therapy program at Wilfrid Laurier University where she is currently pursing PhD studies.
Ashley Kurkjian
Re-defining" Music Therapy? - Comparing and contrasting the vocabulary used to describe therapeutic music programs in healthcare institutions
Ashley Kurkjian is a Registered Psychotherapist (RP) and Accredited Music Therapist (MTA) currently completing her PhD in Music (Music Therapy) at Wilfrid Laurier University. She specializes in music psychotherapy service delivery with New Song Music Therapy, working in long-term care facilities in the Greater Toronto Area.
Cynthia Kinnunen
Midlife musicking: finding community in ukulele ensembles during middlescence and beyond
Cynthia is a music educator and community musician based in Guelph, Ontario, and contract teaching faculty and doctoral researcher (Community Music) at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her research interests include amateur community ensemble ecologies, transitions across the lifespan (women in middlescence and beyond+), social identity and well-being, with interest in arts-based, a/r/tographic, and narrative inquiry research methods. She also takes a particular interest in pedagogy, process, and facilitation through the lens of the ‘ukulele.
Claudia Aguirre
An introduction to the literature on music and dance’s impact on health & well-being in later life
Claudia Aguirre is a PhD student at Laurier Music. She began her PhD at Leeds Beckett University. She holds an MA in dance, a Graduate Diploma in Urban Planning, and a certificate in jazz bass. Her research is on how music and dance impacts health and well-being in older adulthood.
Sarah Katherine Stapleton
Singing for Lifelong Holistic Healing: Trauma-Informed and Embodiment-Based Community Singing
Sarah Stapleton (she/they) is a Music PhD candidate at Wilfrid Laurier University and holds a Master of Teaching from OISE. Sarah is an avid performer, researcher, psychotherapist, and educator with over a decade of experience teaching music in studios and schools. Her primary research interests include vocal health and pedagogy, inclusive education, and the relationship between singing and self.
Sara Klink
Mourning Music - Music Therapy with Grieving Adults
Sara Klinck, MMT, RP, MTA, is a Registered Psychotherapist, Certified Music Therapist, PhD student, instructor and clinical supervisor (WLU), with a private practice in hospice palliative care, bereavement support, long-term care, and community wellness programs. She has co-authored a book and several book chapters highlighting music therapy with the dying and bereaved.
Victoria di Giovanni
Music Across The Lifespan - From Lullabies to Funeral Service
Victoria Di Giovanni is a music therapist based in Vaughan, ON. Victoria works in palliative care at Hospice Vaughan where she offers music therapy to residents and grief counseling to the Vaughan community. Victoria hopes to use her work in palliative care to be a launching point for her research as she navigates the connection between spirituality and music therapy practice.
Larissa Zoubareva
Exploring the role of expanded awareness in healing trauma using Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music.
Larissa is a registered psychotherapist, a certified music therapist with a private practice in the Greater Toronto Area. Currently, Larissa is studying for a PhD in Music therapy with Dr. Heidi Ahonen at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada.