Dr. Laura Benjamins

Education

Courses

• World Musics (MUS-326)
• Music in Culture (MUS-322)

About

Dr. Laura Benjamins graduated from Redeemer where she pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music (Piano Performance), as well as a Bachelor of Education degree. She earned a M.Mus. degree in Music Education at Western University and an A.R.C.T. in Piano Performance through the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Laura continues to work as a part-time music instructor at Redeemer University and Western University. She is passionate about the interdisciplinary connections between music education, church music, and community music. Her doctoral research focuses on contemporary worship music-making practices in church settings, examining their formative impact on musicians and the greater congregation. Laura’s experiences as an elementary music educator and active church musician continue to shape her teaching and research interests. She is involved in several collaborative research projects, one of which is focused on the community impact of ecumenical musical events, and the other on experiential learning opportunities and reflective practice for music performance students in higher education. Her overall research interests and publications are in the areas of church worship, liturgy, music education, informal/non-formal music learning, and reflective practice. Laura lives in Kitchener with her husband, also a graduate of Redeemer, and young daughter.

Research Interests

• Contemporary Worship Music, liturgical theology, church worship, congregational participation
• Music education; formal, informal, non-formal music learning; popular music education
• Experiential learning & reflective practice

Research Publications

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Benjamins, L., Roland, S. L., & Bylica, K. (accepted). The complexities of meaningful experiential learning: Developing a model of reflective practice in music performance education. International Journal of Music Education.

Benjamins, L. (2021). Musicking as liturgical speech acts: An examination of contemporary worship music practices. Studia Liturgica. 

Bylica, K., Roland, S. L., & Benjamins, L. (2021). Brokering reflective spaces in experiential learning: Interdisciplinary engagements in a summer opera program. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education. 

Benjamins, L. (2019). Learning through praise: How Christian worship band musicians learn. Journal of Popular Music Education, 3(3), 417-433.

Book Chapters

Benjamins, L. (2021). Facilitating relational spaces of musicking: A music educator’s practice of care. In K. Hendricks & J. Boyce-Tillman (Eds.), Authentic Connection: Music, Spirituality, and Wellbeing. Peter Lang. 

Practitioner/Trade Journal Publications

Benjamins, L. (2018). Immigrant families, music education, and social mobility in Canada. Canadian Music Educator, 59(3), 5-10.

Research Funding

• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship, 2020 – present
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS), 2019 – 2021
• Collaborative Grant Funded Research through Western University Teaching Fellows Program (for Dr. Sophie Roland)