Inclusive Music Histories Lab
“The SUMR Diversity Lab was formed in 2021 based on my growing student-centered research program. It offers six weeks of employment annually (May–June; 15 to 25 hours per week) for up to 10 undergraduate students.” - Dr. Linda Pearse
About the Lab
The SUMR Diversity Lab began in 2021 as part of Dr. Linda Pearse’s student-centred research program. The lab supports undergraduate researchers as they contribute to tri-council funded research projects in music history that engage the digital humanities, pedagogy, and histories of intercultural contact and encounter. As part of the SUMR Lab, student members work in connection with our domestic and international team, with scholars and students from Queen’s University, Université Laval, Indiana University Bloomington, and Stony Brook University.
From 2021–2023, the lab contributed to the SSHRC Insight Development Grant project, Changing Colonial Narratives in Eurocentric Music History (M. Walker, PI; L. Pearse and S. P. Bouliane, co-applicants). This project examined how colonial and Eurocentric frameworks have shaped the study of Western art music, especially music before 1750. Student researchers located, catalogued, summarized, and tagged scholarly sources that challenge narrow or exclusionary narratives of music history. The students created 140 entries for the Inclusive Early Music online bibliography (G. Zanovello and E. Honisch). Their work resulted in student publications, conference presentations, and teaching materials.
The Lab is now entering a new phase through the five-year SSHRC Insight Grant project, Inclusive Histories of Music: Scholarly Challenges and Pedagogical Responsibilities (Pearse, PI; M. Walker and S. P. Bouliane, co-applicants). Building on the work of the earlier grant, this project asks why certain musics continue to be privileged in academic study, whose histories are taught in post-secondary classrooms, and how research methods shape the production of knowledge. It brings together inclusive frameworks such as decolonial, gender, and race theories to consider how music history scholarship and teaching can become more equitable, accessible, and critically engaged. SUMR Lab researchers will continue to create entries for the Inclusive Early Music platform’s bibliography by preparing, reviewing, summarizing, and tagging academic sources. This work helps make inclusive music history resources more visible and accessible for researchers, teachers, students, and broader publics.
Meet the team
Murron Baranowski
Jade Huard
Taylor Campbell
Jade Huard is a student at Université Laval. She recently completed her Bachelor's degree in Musicology and will begin her Master's degree this fall. Her research primarily focuses on music in Quebec during the COVID-19 pandemic. She serves as on of the student representative for OICRM Université Laval. Last year, she presented her research on music and belonging in Quebec during the first COVID-19 lockdown at the Colloque des étudiants et étudiantes de l’OICRM ULaval nd at a conference organized by IASPM. She also published a book review in the journal Musiques: Recherches interdisciplinaires. During her Bachelor's degree, she worked on various research projects with professors Sandria P. Bouliane, Serge Lacasse, and Josiane Bissonnette. She is currently working at the IG Lab, where she contributes to the identification and cataloguing of articles and recordings for the Zotero database.
Madison Wu
Madison (she/her) is fourth year Bachelor of Arts in the Music and Psychology Joint Honours program at Queens University with particular research interests in ethnomusicology and performance through an inclusive and queer lens. Currently she is doing research on East and Southeast Asian music histories, particularly looking at how non-Western/European philosophies and historiography can assist in de-centering the West in music pedagogies. She has played the piano since she was young, enjoying folk and jazz repertoires while also having many years of involvement in her schools' orchestral bands, playing the flute, and singing in both traditional choirs and a show choir. In her community, she regularly takes part in Traditional Chinese Lion Dance performances both dancing in lion and playing the drums, cymbals, and gong. In the future she hopes to work in the music and entertainment industry as a lawyer in intellectual property protecting and promoting culture and the arts.
Taylor Campbell is an incoming fourth-year Bachelor of Music student at Mount Allison University, studying Vocal Performance. With an interest in music education and musical theatre, she hopes to pursue private teaching and music direction of musicals after graduation. In her own performance, she enjoys Romantic and Impressionistic art song. In her time at Mount Allison, she has co-music directed three productions: Beauty and the Beast, Footloose (Garnet and Gold Musical Theatre Society), and A Very Carole Christmas Carol (Motyer-Fancy Theatre), as well as participated in NUOVA Vocal Arts 5-Week Musical Theatre Intensive. This summer, Taylor has found particular interest in researching the music of the enslaved people in the Caribbean islands during the sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuries and is grateful for the opportunity to explore this topic with the SUMR Lab.
Isabelle Trottier
Isabelle is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Musicology at Laval University. She serves as a research and teaching assistant at the Faculty of Music and is a student member of the Interdisciplinary Observatory for Music Research and Creation (OICRM–Laval). Since 2025, she has been involved in research projects related to Vie musicale au Québec (VMQ) and the Laboratoire d’archives vivantes et de recherche sur la vie musicale (LAVIMUS), working under the supervision of Sandria P. Bouliane.
Murron Baranowski (she/her) is a second-year Bachelor of Music student at Mount Allison University. Her interests include music education, flute performance, and music history. This is Murron’s first year working with the SUMR Lab where she researched under-represented areas of music history. Outside of the SUMR Lab, Murron spends her time reading, practicing flute, and working as a barista. In the future, she hopes to be in a professional orchestra and work as a music teacher.
Ethan Walter
Ethan Walter (he/him) is a Nova Scotian clarinetist, educator, and researcher with a Bachelor of Music from Mount Allison University (‘26). As a pre-service educator, he has gained educational experience as a theory teaching assistant, private tutor, ensemble leader, and teaching artist intern with Sistema New Brunswick. Ethan also recently completed a research study, Conducting High School Wind Bands: Striking a Balance between Performance and Education, and plans to present this research at the 37th International Society for Music Education’s World Conference in Montréal, Québec, during July 2026. His research interests include intersections of instrumental music education, performance, and conducting. As a three-year SUMR lab member, Ethan values the opportunity to grow as a researcher and make meaningful connections between inclusive music history and teaching praxis.
Jude Taylor Bourque
Jude Taylor Bourque (he/him) is an aspiring music academic, composer, and performer. As a recent graduate of Mount Allison’s Bachelor of Music program (‘26), Jude has participated significantly in New Brunswick’s musical community. He has collaborated with Mount Allison faculty, ensembles Ventus Machina, and Pixel.Wav as a drummer and composer. During his time at Mount Alison, Jude performed two recitals featuring contemporary works by Casey Cangelosi, Pascal Le Boeuf, and others. As a composer, Jude is inspired by the fusion of jazz and classical chamber styles and is influenced by the work of Avishai Cohen, Jeremy Ledenbetter, and Pascal Le Boeuf. His research interests include music theory, music transcription, and notation systems. Jude is grateful to participate in the 2026 SUMR lab to continue to improve his research and writing skills. Jude will continue performance studies to a doctorate level and aspires to be part of a university body as a teacher and/or researcher.
Lisa Duprez-Goulet
Lisa Duprez-Goulet (she/her/elle) is a third-year undergraduate student studying at Université Laval in Québec City. She is a Performance major, studying voice and classical music. Since the beginning of her studies, she has worked as a Research Assistant on multiple projects, namely the project Vie musicale au Québec (VMQ), for which she acts as Assitant Coordinator. In september 2026, Lisa will pursue graduate training as a master’s student of musicology at Laval. Her main research interest is musical life in Québec in the first half of the 20th century, specifically the uses of music in everyday life. While she intends on pursuing a career as a singer, Lisa is excited to see where this path as a graduate student of musicology will lead her.
Past Contributors
Annika Williams, ‘23
Emma Yee, ‘24
Lindsay Pike, ‘25
Kiran Steele, ‘24
David Archibald, ‘23
Sarah Workman, ‘23
Susanne Sevcik, ‘24
Emma Cameron, ‘22