General Contact

Faculty of Music, John Aird Centre
75 University Ave. West
Waterloo, Ontario
N2L 3C5

choosemusic@wlu.ca

General inquiries - 519.884.1970 x2432

Prospective student questions - 519.884.1970 x2492

Administration

• Dean and Associate Deans 
• Staff

Dean and Associate Deans

Cynthia Johnston Turner
Dean, Faculty of Music

Kimberly Barber
Associate Dean, Faculty of Music - External Affairs, Partnerships and Graduate Studies
Professor, Voice
Administrative Coordinator, Opera

Kira Omelchenko
Associate Dean, Faculty of Music - Performance and Recruitment
Associate Professor
Director, Symphony Orchestra

Kevin Swinden
Associate Dean, Faculty of Music - Planning and Curriculum
Associate Professor, Music Theory

Staff

Management:

Renée Ellis
Senior Administrative Officer

Andrew Mellanby
Manager, Facilities Operations

Josh Manuel 
Administrative Manager

Staff:

Emily Carruthers
Experiential Placements Coordinator
Instructor, Leadership & Facilitation in CM Contexts, CM Principles & Practices
Music Therapy Supervisor

Kathy Gauci
Academic Advisor and Auditions Coordinator

Mieke Kanmacher
Outreach and Student Recruitment Coordinator

Mathew Kensett
Technical Coordinator, Performance Facilities

Jessica Khan
Operations Coordinator, Beckett School at Laurier

Rebekah Jordan-Miller
Director, Beckett School at Laurier
Instructor, Advanced Clinical Musicianship

Wray Lovi
Piano Technician

Danny McAfee 
Piano Technician

Malinga Perera Maddumage
Financial Analyst

Faculty

• Coach-Accompanists
• Composition
• Community Music
• Ensembles
• Keyboard (Piano and Organ)
• Music Education
• Music History, Theory and Critical Analysis
• Music Therapy
• Strings
• Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion
• Voice

Coach-Accompanists

Beth Ann de Sousa
Coach-Accompanist, Strings and Winds

Kate Carver
Music Director, Opera
Resident Conductor/Music Director, Opera

Elvera Froese
Coach-Accompanist, Voice and Opera
Director, Maureen Forrester Singers

Stephanie Mara
Coach-Accompanist, Strings, Winds and Brass

Anna Ronai
Coach-Accompanist, Voice and Opera
Instructor, Introduction to Accompanying and Keyboard Skills

Lorin Shalanko
Coach-Accompanist, Voice and Saxophone

Composition

Coordinator:

Barbara Assiginaak
Assistant Professor, Composition
Coordinator, Composition

Kevin Day
Assistant Professor, Composition

Colin Labadie
Instructor, Foundations of Popular and Commercial Music, Structure in Popular Music, Class Guitar, Songwriting and Song Analysis

Kathryn Ladano
Instructor, Improvisation I, Musicianship III/IV
Director, Improvisation Concerts Ensemble

Cameron McKittrick
Instructor, Music and New Technology, Electro-Acoustic Music

Community Music

Undergraduate Coordinator:

Deanna Yerichuk
Assistant Professor, Community Music
Coordinator, Bachelor of Music in Community Music

Graduate Coordinator:

Lee Willingham
Professor, Music Education
Director, Laurier Centre for Music in the Community
Coordinator, Music Education
Coordinator, Master of Arts in Community Music

Emily Carruthers
Experiential Placements Coordinator
Instructor, Leadership & Facilitation in CM Contexts, CM Principles & Practices
Music Therapy Supervisor

Brennan Connolly
Instructor, Percussion, Class Drumming, Percussion Techniques
Director, Percussion Ensemble

Karen Cyrus
Assistant Professor, Musicology, Community Music

Maria Kouznetsova
Instructor, Managing an Arts Centred Career

Colin Labadie
Instructor, Foundations of Popular and Commercial Music, Structure in Popular Music, Class Guitar, Songwriting and Song Analysis

Kathryn Ladano
Instructor, Improvisation I, Musicianship III/IV
Director, Improvisation Concerts Ensemble

Brandon Leis
Instructor, Voice, Class Voice

Terry Paynter
Instructor, Musicianship I/II, Theory I/II

Jason White
Instructor, Class Keyboard

Gerard Yun
Assistant Professor, Community Music
Director, Convergence/Laurier Singers
Coordinator, Choirs

Ensembles

Kate Carver
Music Director, Opera
Resident Conductor/Music Director, Opera

Colin Clarke
Director, Wind Orchestra (Fall term)

Brennan Connolly
Instructor, Percussion, Class Drumming, Percussion Techniques
Director, Percussion Ensemble

Elvera Froese
Coach-Accompanist, Voice
Director, Maureen Forrester Singers

Amanda Kind
Director, Vox 

Jessica Kun (on sabbatical)
Associate Professor
Director, Wind Orchestra

Kathryn Ladano
Instructor, Improvisation I, Musicianship III/IV
Director, Improvisation Concerts Ensemble

Carolyn Neumann VanderBurgh
Instructor, Introduction to Elementary Music Education
Director, Concert Choir

Kira Omelchenko
Associate Dean, Faculty of Music - Performance and Recruitment
Associate Professor
Director, Symphony Orchestra

Ronald Schirm
Director, Jazz Ensemble

LaToya Webb
Assistant Professor, Director of Laurier Wind Orchestra

Gerard Yun
Assistant Professor, Community Music
Director, Convergence/Laurier Singers
Coordinator, Choirs

Keyboard (Piano and Organ)

Coordinator:
Anya Alexeyev 
Associate Professor, Piano
Coordinator, Keyboard / Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion

Joseph Ferretti
Instructor, Piano

Cynthia Hiebert
Instructor, Harpsichord

Elaine Lau
Instructor, Piano

Anna Ronai
Coach-Accompanist, Voice and Opera
Instructor, Introduction to Accompanying and Keyboard Skills

Marnie Van Weelden
Instructor, Piano

Music Education

Coordinator:
Lee Willingham
Professor, Music Education
Director, Laurier Centre for Music in the Community
Coordinator, Music Education
Coordinator, Master of Arts in Community Music

Ron Cohen Mann
Instructor, Oboe, Oboe Techniques

Brennan Connolly
Instructor, Percussion, Class Drumming, Percussion Techniques
Director, Percussion Ensemble

Michael Kearns
Instructor, Trombone Techniques

Cynthia Kinnunen
Instructor, Elementary Techniques

Jane Maness
Instructor, Tuba/Euphonium, Tuba Techniques

Carolyn Neumann VanderBurgh
Instructor, Introduction to Elementary Music Education
Director, Concert Choir

Mariette Stephenson
Instructor, Guitar Techniques I/II

Dave Wiffen
Instructor, Saxophone, Saxophone Techniques

Music History, Theory and Critical Analysis

Coordinator:
Kirsten Yri
Associate Professor, Musicology
Coordinator, Music History, Theory and Critical Analysis 

Eva Branda
Instructor, Music History I/II

Daniel Cabena
Instructor, Voice, Music in the Baroque Period, Vocal Pedagogy

Karen Cyrus
Assistant Professor, Ethnomusicology, Community Music

Anna Ferenc
Associate Professor, Music Theory 

Brent Hagerman
Instructor, History of Rock Music

Linda Kash
Instructor, Stand and Deliver! Power in Performance and Public Speech

Terry Kroetsch
Instructor, Musical Skills Lab II, V, VI

Terry Paynter
Instructor, Musicianship I/II, Theory I/II

Daniel Ramjattan
Instructor, Guitar, Music Performance Anxiety & Skills

Kevin Swinden
Associate Dean, Faculty of Music - Planning and Curriculum
Associate Professor, Music Theory

Trevor Wagler
Instructor, Musical Skills Lab I, II, III, IV

Music Therapy

Undergraduate Coordinator:
Elizabeth Mitchell
Assistant Professor, Music Therapy
Coordinator, Bachelor of Music Therapy

Graduate Coordinator:
Heidi Ahonen
Professor, Music Therapy
Coordinator, Master of Music Therapy
Director, Manfred and Penny Conrad Institute for Music Therapy Research

Emily Carruthers
Experiential Placements Coordinator
Instructor, Leadership & Facilitation in CM Contexts, CM Principles & Practices
Music Therapy Supervisor

Amy Clements-Cortés
Instructor, Principles of Music Therapy
Music Therapy Supervisor

Linda Gambell
Music Therapy Supervisor 

Melissa Jessop
Music Therapy Supervisor

Rebekah Jordan-Miller
Director, Beckett School at Laurier
Instructor, Advanced Clinical Musicianship

Eunice Kang
Music Therapy Supervisor

Sara Klinck
Instructor, Music Therapy Theory and Research, Clinical Improvisation I: Song-writing in Music Psychotherapy, Clinical Improvisation III: Compositional Applications in Music Psychotherapy 
Music Therapy Supervisor

Demian Kogutek
Assistant Professor, Music Therapy

Andrea Lamont
Instructor, Safe and Effective Use of Self in Music Psychotherapy Settings, Foundations of Music Psychotherapy, Case Studies in Music Psychotherapy
Music Therapy Supervisor

Adrienne Pringle
Music Therapy Supervisor

Priya Shah
Instructor, MPT, Diversity & Social Justice, Clinical MPT Skills IV: Verbal Counselling 
Music Therapy Supervisor

Christina Weldon
Music Therapy Supervisor

Strings

Coordinator:
Jerzy Kaplanek
Professor, Violin, Strings and Chamber Music
Member of the Penderecki String Quartet
Coordinator, Strings and QuartetFest

Jeremy Bell
Artist-in-Residence, Violin, Strings and Chamber Music
Member of the Penderecki String Quartet

Lina Cao
Instructor, Guzheng

Lori Gemmell
Instructor, Harp

Kevin Ramessar
Instructor, Guitar (Community Music)

Daniel Ramjattan
Instructor, Guitar, Music Performance Anxiety & Skills

Katie Schlaikjer
Artist-in-Residence, Cello, Strings and Chamber Music
Member of the Penderecki String Quartet

Christine Vlajk
Artist-in-Residence, Viola, Violin, Strings and Chamber Music
Member of the Penderecki String Quartet
Coordinator, Chamber Music

Ian Whitman
Instructor, Double Bass

Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion

Coordinator:
Anya Alexeyev 
Associate Professor, Piano
Coordinator, Keyboard / Winds, Brass and Percussion

Dave Campion
Instructor, Percussion

Simion Ciobanu
Instructor, Bassoon

Ron Cohen Mann
Instructor, Oboe, Oboe Techniques

Brennan Connolly
Instructor, Percussion, Class Drumming, Percussion Techniques
Director, Percussion Ensemble

Derek Conrod
Instructor, French Horn

Ross Edwards
Instructor, Clarinet

Guy Few
Instructor, Trumpet

Samuel Fraser
Instructor, Bassoon

Jane Maness
Instructor, Tuba/Euphonium, Tuba Techniques

Leslie Newman
Instructor, Flute

Katherine Robertson
Instructor, French Horn

Peter Shackleton
Instructor, Clarinet

Laurel Swinden
Instructor, Flute 

Rachel Thomas
Instructor, Trombone

Dave Wiffen
Instructor, Saxophone, Saxophone Techniques

Voice

Coordinator:
Leslie Fagan
Assistant Professor, Voice
Coordinator, Voice

Kimberly Barber
Associate Dean, Faculty of Music - External Affairs, Partnerships and Graduate Studies
Professor, Voice
Administrative Coordinator, Opera

Amanda Brunk
Instructor, Contemporary Voice (Community Music) 

Daniel Cabena
Instructor, Voice, Music in the Baroque Period, Vocal Pedagogy

Brandon Leis
Instructor, Voice, Class Voice

Elizabeth Lepock
Instructor, Vocal Pedagogy

James McLean
Instructor, Voice

Jennie Such
Instructor, Voice