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I completed a PhD in music (ethnomusicology) at York University as well as a Master of Arts in music, and a Master of Arts in applied linguistics. I hold an LRSM (Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music) in teaching piano, and I completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of the West Indies, Mona. I also completed a Post Graduate Dip. Ed. in Music (Honors) at MICO Teachers College, and I have Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) certification for music (vocal-intermediate) and the junior division.
I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), where I worked on a project titled "Mapping Ontario's Black Archive." There, I developed a database with 5000+ entries from Ontario's institutional and community archives that mapped the presence of persons of African descent in Ontario from the 1700s to 1975.
As a lifelong learner, I have completed several certificates and diplomas that have helped me to become more proficient at the many roles and tasks that I have worked on over the years; a few of these are below:
- TA Certificate in Teaching (SEDA)—Teaching Commons, York University
- Foundations of Project Management I and II. Mitacs Inc.
- Professional grant proposal writing. The Grant Institute
- Accredited TESL Certification TESL Ontario
- Accredited TESL Methodology Teacher Trainer TESL Ontario
- Indigenous Research Paradigms, Center for Indigegogy, Wilfrid Laurier University
- Foundations Certificate: Restorative Principles, The Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management, Wilfrid Laurier University
My research interests are Afrodiasporic community music making practices, pan-African children’s repertoires, gospel music repertoires, social justice in music education, and research collaborations.
My doctoral research explored sites of struggle and innovation among reggae musicians in Afrodiasporic communities in Jamaica, Toronto, the United States and the United Kingdom from the 1950s to 1990. I also investigated community practices in steelpan orchestras throughout Toronto in 2007, which was published in Carnival: Theory and Practice (Africa World Press, 2013).My work in community music includes curriculum development for a Caribbean community music program in Toronto and workshops on music and social justice for the YRDSB.
My research on repertoires includes an article in The Sage Encyclopedia of Music and Culture (2019). Research that I have undertaken over the past two decades aims to provide educators access to repertoires that will increase representation for anglophone and francophone learners of African descent in music classrooms. This includes a series of music education textbooks that feature children’s music from the Caribbean, titled Music for Big Ants and Little Ants (1998) and Caribbean Integrated Music (2002, 2004). I have also given several workshops on pan-African repertoires. My research in repertoire analysis includes an exploration of the themes of Jamaican contemporary Christian music, which will be published in a forthcoming monograph. I am also a co-founder and music director of T-Mento, a Toronto-based band that seeks to preserve the musical style of Jamaican Mento music.
I also have an interest in research ecosystems: the principles and best practices of collaborative research and research collaborations. I was part of the team that established the Helen Carswell Chair in Community-Engaged Research in the Arts, York University, where I was the Helen Carswell research associate from 2017 to 2021. In that role, I fostered and facilitated partnerships between community music organizations and researchers to improve music programming and curriculum for racialized youth in the Jane and Finch area of Toronto in addition to conducting my own community-engaged research. I am currently the Director of the Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa at Laurier.
As a musician, I worked in music ministry for decades in a variety of positions, including church pianist, playing for weddings, directing choirs, and as an accompanist. I am a board member of the Toronto Mass Choir and have been a regular clinician for their annual PowerUp Workshop from 2012 to 2024, where I teach a group keyboard class called "Beginner's Gospel Keyboard." A recent project was creating a database of 628 hymns, which was published on a website called Sing the hymns: Exploring songs of our Faith.
I am also interested in the use of cultural cues in local and roots theatre sound design within African and Afrodiasporic contexts. In 2024, my band, T. Mento, was commissioned to create and record an original arrangement of "Dis Long Time Gal" for the play Beyonsea and the Mothers, written by Teneile Warren. The play, along with our arrangement, debuted in January 2025; it was produced by Green Light Arts at the Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts in Kitchener, Ontario.
- Early Career Research Fellowship for Black and Indigenous Scholars, AVP-EDI Wilfrid Laurier University and University of Waterloo, Ontario, 2025.
- Research Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2024.
- Canadian Music Educators’ Association/l’Association canadienne des musiciens éducateurs (CMEA/ACME) Builders Award, 2022.
Open to supervising directed readings for MA and PhD students.
Book Chapters and Articles
Cyrus, K. (2023). “Rethinking representation in music education: Strategies to integrate Pan-African music.” In The Routledge Companion to Applied Musicology. Ed. Christopher Dromey. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Willingham, Lee. Yerichuk, D., Yun, G., Cyrus, K., & Leis, B. (2022).” Evolving pathways into practice in Canada: An overview of Laurier University's community music programme.” Sounding Board 2022: 4. https://sway.office.com/syvbrb4WU3WCDrfq?loc=swsp
Cyrus, Karen. (2019). “Repertoire.” In Sage Encyclopedia of Music and Culture. ed. Janet Sturman, pp. 1811-1814.
Cyrus, Karen. (2014). “Lessons from the Past: The Work Culture of Session Musicians in Jamaica’s Recording Industry from 1957-1979.” MUSICultures 40 (2): 30-56.
Cyrus, Karen. (2013). “Why They Play Pan: Steel Band Communities in the GTA.” In Carnival: Theory and Practice, pp. 207-216. Eds. Christopher Innes, Annabel Rutherford and Brigitte Bogar. New Jersey: Africa World Press.
Selected Conference Presentations
Karen Cyrus & Amanda Oliver. (2023). "Calling all archivists and Afrodiasporic academics: A conversation about collaborative research processes." MOBA Two-day speaker series and creative showcase, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada. https://www.torontomu.ca/news-events/events/2023/09/artists-and-archivists-in-dialogue/
Cyrus, K. (2023), “We, too, sing O’ Canada: Black spaces in ivory towers.” Strangers in New Homelands Conference 2023. University of Manitoba, Winnipeg.
Cyrus, Karen. (2023) “Interculturality, globalization and musical cultures: Considerations from a Higher Ed classroom.” The International Conference on Performing Arts. 27 March to 1 April 2023, University of Makerere, Kampala, Uganda. https://paf.mak.ac.ug/conference.
Cyrus, Karen, Beverly Vaughn, and Dorette Vermeulen. (2023). “Building French Pan-African repertoires over eight time zones: Negotiating virtual exchanges.” Global Online Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology (GOCSEM) Inaugural Meeting, May 6–8, 2023. https://sites.google.com/udel.edu/gocsem/home
Cyrus, K. (2022). “Black performance in Canada as artistry and activism,” Black Canadian Studies Association (BCSA) Conference at Congress 2022, Ontario, Canada. https://www.blackcanadianstudiesassociation.ca/programme.html
Cyrus, K. & Jefford, M. (2021). “Sankofa: Integrating pan-African repertoires in music education.” Newfoundland and Labrador Music Educators Association Annual Conference: NLMEA Resonate 2021. St. John’s, NL. https://m.facebook.com/nlmsic/photos/a.121464202561563/626585142049464/?type=3
Cyrus, K. & Hillis, A. (2021). “Musical communities and community music: Frameworks and structures.” Pan African Society for Musical Arts Education PASMAE 2021 Regional Conference on Equity and Diversity in Musical Arts Education. Zambia: Virtual conference. https://www.pasmae.africa/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2021_pasmae_abstracts_bookfinal..pdf
Cyrus, K., Burke, K., Amponsah, E. & Tecle, S. (2019). “Equity through community music programming: Barriers and bridges to resources and representation.” Workshop presented at FESI 2019 Dismantling the Barriers to Education, August 22, 2019. York University, Toronto. https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/items/fcab2db4-cc26-411f-8d41-768892fe6b92
Cyrus, K., Burke, K. & Wilson, A. (2019). “Black music in music education: repertoire, representation, and courageous conversations.” Poster presentation, Ontario Music Educators Association OMEA/CMIEC Conference, OPUS 100, Nov. 7-9, 2019. Toronto, Canada. https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/f5e7d549-65ab-441f-bf62-e3d13e937f1b/content
Cyrus, K & Marsella, R. (2021). “Many rivers to cross: Social justice through performance and collaboration.” Children, Youth, and Performance Conference. York University, Toronto: Virtual Conference. https://www.youngpeoplestheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CYP-Conference-Schedule-2021-1.pdf
Cyrus, K. & Jefford, M. (2021). “Education and musical arts in the community: Collaborating on the infrastructure for musical communities.” Pan African Society for Musical Arts Education PASMAE 2021 Regional Conference on Equity and Diversity in Musical Arts Education. Zambia: Virtual conference. https://www.pasmae.africa/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2021_pasmae_abstracts_bookfinal..pdf
Cyrus, K. & Burke, K. (2021). “Confronting anti-black racism through representation in community music programming.” Canadian University Music Society, MusCan 2021 Conference. Western University: Virtual conference.
Invited Talks and Workshops
Karen Cyrus. (2012–2024). "Beginner's Gospel Keyboard." PowerUp Gospel Music Workshop, York University, Toronto.
Ann-Marie Beals & Karen Cyrus. (2023). “The power of narratives: Documenting Black and Indigenous histories in Canada.” Moderator: Lauren Burrows. Inspiring Conversations, WLU, Office of Alumni relations. Waterloo, Canada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEdrxTFct68
Warren, T., Cyrus K., & Williams, D. (2022). “Systemic injustices in music programs: Where we are now and envisioning our way forward.” Mel Brown Festival and Symposium, May 27–29, 2022. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario.
Wallace, D., Birse, J., Mitchell, R., Blake, C., Ridell, K., Earle, K., & Cyrus, K. (2022). “Interrogating Erasure: Centering Black voices in Canadian History” Adolescent Literacy Project in collaboration with YRDSB Museum and Archives. York Region District School Board.
Thompson, C. and Cyrus, K. (2022), “Mapping Ontario’s Black Archive: Building an Inventory Through Storytelling.” Amherstburg Freedom Museum Black History Series (Virtual).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbOSO20Rml4&t=5s
Thompson, C. and Cyrus, K. (2022), “Mapping Ontario’s Black Archive: A conversation,” Archives Association of Ontario, AAO IDC members Symposium 2022.
Cyrus, K., Hines, C., Stambolich, J., Birse, J., Mcfarlane, A., and Tang, J. (2021). “Collaborating for culture change: Working together in service of Canadian students of African descent through the arts.” ESSAC Equity Symposium: Moving Forward Together: Creating Anti Colonial, Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Environments in Education. York Region District School Board.
Cyrus, K., Hamilton, D., Lewis, B., & Jones, W. (2021). “Building pan-African repertoires to disrupt anti-Black racism in music education.” The Helen Carswell Webinars, 2021. Helen Carswell Chair in Community Engaged Research in the Arts, York University, Toronto.
Cyrus, Karen. (2019). “Multilevel group-piano classes: management, methods, and materials.” Workshop presented at Regent Park School of Music's professional development sessions. Toronto.
I look forward to a collaborative journey of teaching and learning with students at Laurier.