Speaker Series Events
The Music & Culture Performance Speaker Series at the University of Toronto Scarborough showcases the breadth and depth of a variety of professional relationships to music. Invited speakers are asked to both speak to and perform their relationship to music-making, composition, and/or performance. Since adopting the series into SoundLife Scarborough programming, our goal is to provide students in the program and members of the wider community with an accessible experience by which they can explore the varied relationships scholars and artists create with, and to, music.
Upcoming Events
Collaborative Songwriting in Community Settings: Using Songs for Social Change
February 11, 2025

Collaborative songwriting in community settings: Using songs for social change will feature guest speaker Taylor Kurta. Drawing from their work using songwriting with people living with dementia to challenge stigma, Taylor will show how collaborative songwriting can amplify voices, shift perceptions, and foster understanding. Sharing stories and examples from collaborative songwriting projects, and through a hands-on songwriting workshop, we will discover how songwriting can connect people, break down stereotypes, and encourage more inclusive, compassionate communities.
Past Events
Engaging in Community Music, Foundational Principles and Lessons for the Classroom with Dr. Willingham
Feb 13, 2024 | University of Toronto Scarborough

Join for an inspiring presentation on the foundational principles of community music and its connection to the classroom, presented by Dr. Willingham, a Professor in the Music Faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Kaleidoscopic: living, music and art making with Adrian Berry
November 16, 2023 | University of Toronto Scarborough

An interactive multimedia exploration of Adrian’s intuitive and kaleidoscopic approach to music and art making and their multifaceted adventure as a touring musician, organizer, educator, and creative researcher.
About the speaker: Adrian Berry is a musician, digital media artist, educator and creative researcher whose practice is a synergistic creature born from almost a decade as a composer, saxophonist and vocalist in American punk bands. Nurtured by intuitive investigations into audiovisual technology, collaborative music making, and live performance, Adrian’s new multimedia project Gold Cove explores themes of desire, trauma, and the unheroic reality of resilience through an extra-disciplinary lens. Adrian’s work has been featured by The New Yorker and Rolling Stone and recently through their 2022 solo exhibition as artist-in-residence at Video Pool Media Arts Centre and 2023 SIM Artist Residency in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Rap Cubano in the Archive with Pablo D. Herrera Veitia
Nov 2, 2023 | University of Toronto Scarborough

Delve into Rap Cubano archives with Pablo D. Herrera Veitia, an Afro-Cuban anthropologist and producer. As he explores Havana’s knowledge production and Afro-Cuban anti-racism. The series showcases Pablo’s unique perspective, offering insights into the relationships scholars and artists build with music, enriching the experience for students and the community.