Erika Donald

Ph.D. Music Research (Education)
Supervisors: Asst. Prof. Isabelle Cossette; Prof. Marcelo M. Wanderley

• String performance and pedagogy
• Movement, coordination and motor learning
• Technology and interaction in music performance and education
• Gesture - sound relationships
• Contemporary and chamber music

• B.Mus. Cello Performance - University of Manitoba (Canada), 2005
• M.Mus. Cello Performance - McGill University (Canada), 2008
• Ph.D. Music Education - McGill University, in progress

• Weston Fellowship in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
• Expanded Performance Trio

• The CIRMMT/McGill Digital Orchestra Project
• Jeux d'ombres for cello with live electronics and dance - collaboration with composer Anthony Tan and dancer/choreographer Melina Stinson
• At the Core: Effects of tempo on bow arm and torso movements of highly skilled cellists using motion capture techology - collaboration with David-Anthony Savoca, Dr. Julie Côté and Dr. Marcelo M. Wanderley

• Xenia Pestova, Erika Donald, Heather Hindman, Joseph Malloch, Mark T. Marshall, Fernando Rocha, Stephen Sinclair, D. Andrew Stewart, Marcelo M. Wanderley, and Sean Ferguson. (2009). ”The CIRMMT/McGill Digital Orchestra Project.” In Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC09), pp. 295-298, Montreal, QC, Canada.

• Upcoming: Erika Donald, Marcelo M. Wanderley and Isabelle Cossette. (2010). “Effects of tempo on bow arm and center of mass movements in highly skilled cellists and their pedagogical implications.” 11th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
• Upcoming: Erika Donald. (2010). “The Teaching Practices of Irene Sharp: Exceptional Cello Pedagogue.” 29th International Society for Music Education (ISME) World Conference and Forum on Instrumental & Vocal Teaching, Beijing, China.
• Erika Donald. (2010). “Paving the Way…” International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research in Music Pedagogy, University of Ottawa, Ontario.
• Erika Donald. (2009). “Jeux d'ombres: Reflections on interaction and collaboration in live electronics.” The Performer's Voice: An International Forum for Music Performance & Scholarship, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
• Erika Donald and Xenia Pestova. (2009). “The Digital Orchestra Project: Digital Musical Instruments and Performance Practice.” SPARK Festival of Electronic Music and Arts, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
• Erika Donald. (2009). “Balance & Bowing: Investigating the Effects of Tempo on Bowing and Torso Movements in Expert Cello Playing” McGill University Music Graduate Students’ Symposium, Montreal.
• Erika Donald and Xenia Pestova. (2009). “The Digital Orchestra Project: Digital Musical Instruments and Performance Practice.” McGill University Music Graduate Students’ Symposium, Montreal.

• “Reflections on performance and interaction in live electronics”, University of Manitoba Composition seminar, 2010.
• “CIRMMT Expanded Performance Trio/Playing with live electronics”, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, 2010.
• Session presenter, Learning to Teach: A Professional Development Workshop for Graduate Students, McGill University, 2010.
• Panelist, 1st Studio Teaching Workshop, McGill University. “The Balancing Act: Short-term and Long-term Goals in Studio Teaching”, 2010.
• Concordia University Hexagram Series, Co-lecturer with Joseph Malloch and D. Andrew Stewart on the CIRMMT/McGill Digital Orchestra Project, Montreal, 2008.

• Cluster New Music & Integrated Arts Festival. Solo and EPTrio performances. Winnipeg, Manitoba, 2010.
• MusiMars Contemporary Music Festival. Premiere of Ferrofluid by Eliot Britton. Montreal, 2009.
• MUTEK: Electronic Music and Digital Creativity Festival. Middle Clouds: Family A, B, C for amplified string quartet and laptop by Ben Shemie. Montreal, 2008.
• Music + Technology Incubator III. sounds between our minds by D. Andrew Stewart. CIRMMT/McGill University, Montreal, 2008.
• Premieres and recording of Jeux d'ombres for cello with live electronics and dance by Anthony Tan with Erika Donald and Melina Stinson. Montreal, 2008.
• MusiMars Contemporary Music Festival. The Digital Orchestra project: Premieres of The Long and the Short of It (solo cello) by Heather Hindman and sounds between our minds (soprano t-stick) by D. Andrew Stewart . Montreal, 2008. Recorded live for CBC Radio 2 ('The Signal').

• International Summer School in Systematic, Comparative and Cognitive Musicology, Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, 2009.
• Irene Sharp Cello Seminar, Stanford University, 2004.

• Cello Faculty, Brandon Suzuki Summer Institute, Brandon University, Brandon, MB, July 2010.
• Teaching Assistant, The Art of Listening - MUAR 211, McGill University, Winter 2010.
• Substitute Instructor, String Techniques - MUIT 201, McGill University, Winter 2009.
• Guest Instructor, Winnipeg Summer Cello Institute, Winnipeg, MB, 2008.
• Cello Instructor, McGill Conservatory of Music, McGill University, 2007 - present.
• Private Cello Instructor, Montreal, QC, 2007 - present.

Erika Donald
Input Devices and Music Interaction Laboratory - IDMIL
Music Performance and Body Laboratory - MPBL
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Media Music and Technology - CIRMMT
International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research - BRAMS
Schulich School of Music - McGill University
555, Sherbrooke Street West
H3A 1E3 Montreal, QC, Canada

Fax: +1 (514) 398-2962
Phone: +1 (514) 398-4535 ext. 094846
Email: erika [at] music [dot] mcgill [dot] ca