Darren Hamilton is the 2022 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year

BY PAUL JUNOR

Darren has been making musical waves for years in the gospel industry in Canada. It was no surprise when it was announced at the JUNO Awards that he was the recipient of the 2022 MusicCounts Teacher of the Year Award. It was presented by the Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation (CST) and was reported on its website: musicounts.ca. It states, “This prestigious national award recognizes an inspirational Canadian music educator’s impact on students and music education.”

This award was established in 2005 and Darren was selected out of five nominees from across Canada. Darren has the distinction of being the first African Canadian to be recognized for his outstanding work.

He has come a long way since being a summer camp counsellor. He received his Bachelor of Education in Music and Mathematics in 2008 from the O.I.S.E at the University of Toronto, and his Masters of Music in 2016 at Western University. He is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education (University of Toronto). He served as a Founder and Artistic Director of the Waterloo Region Mass choir since September 2018, and has been course director of the University of Toronto Mass choir since 2019.

It is in his role as a secondary music educator at the David Suzuki Secondary in Brampton that Darren has received recognition. After he received the nominations for Musicounts Teacher of the Year Award he talked about the importance of music education. He states, “Music is a great tool for self-expression and social justice advocacy. When youth have the opportunity to access music education, they develop skills that empower them to express themselves creatively and musically through performance, composition, arranging, and lyrical writing.”

Darren was instrumental in the launch of a new Hip-Hop and R & B course at David Suzuki.  After receiving feedback from Black students and receiving a MusicCounts grant, he purchased a class set of DJ consoles to help students learn how to DJ as part of the new course. Darren was one of the authors of the 2022 Music Counts Learn Resource titled, “#BlackMusicMatters: Hip-Hop & Social Justice in Canada.” He has written articles in the Canadian Music Educator in 2021 on “Black Music Matters” and “Hip-Hop Music Education.” In addition to the award, Darren received a $10,000 cash prize that he will use to build up the music program at David Suzuki.

Darren states in his acceptance speed “As the recipient of this award, it is my hope that the Canadian music education landscape will recognize the importance of having racialized students and music educators, as well as the cultural music of racialized communities, represented in classrooms at all levels of music education.”

Undoubtedly, Darren will continue to expand the musical horizons of the wider music communities in all of Canada.