GMSA Executive Team

Keisha Bell Kovacs is pursuing a Ph.D. in musicology with a focus on jazz studies through a lens of race and gender. She is a pianist, composer, and arranger and performs regularly with her trio in Toronto. She has arranged scores for York University's Media Music Concert, which features a student-led wind ensemble. Keisha has had a lengthy career teaching Western art music theory, history, piano performance and pedagogy. She earned a master’s degree in composition in 2020 and released her first album, Caribbean Yellow in 2022. Her book review for Liner Notes for the Revolution was published in the MUSICultures journal in the fall of 2023, and she is a two-time recipient of the John Arpin Award for Fine Arts.

Stephen Carr is pursuing PhD studies in musicology and ethnomusicology at York University, with a research focus on expanding academic approaches to vocal performance pedagogy. He also teaches as a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto's School of Music and as a stagecraft specialist at the Royal Conservatory of Music in downtown Toronto.

Stephen spent eight years as an Associate Professor of Opera and Musical Theater Studies at the Eastman School of Music and Associate Artistic Director of Eastman Opera Theater. His productions at Eastman included Les Dialogues des Carmélites, which was awarded the American Prize for Stage Directing, and staged collaborations with composers Missy Mazzoli, Anthony Davis, Kevin Puts, Adam Guettel, and Jake Heggie. He has also served on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Institute and the Senzoku Gakuen Conservatory of Music in Tokyo, where he helped to create one of the leading undergraduate musical theatre programs in Asia. You can learn more about his work at www.stephen-carr.net

Pratik Gandhi is a conductor, percussionist, clinician, and researcher based in Toronto. He currently serves as music director of the Rouge River Winds and vice-chair of the Concert Band Division of MusicFest Canada. Pratik is pursuing a Ph.D. in music at York University, where his research, supported by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship, investigates issues of equity and representation among wind band composers in Canada. He has been an active member of the wind band community in Canada for over a decade, and is passionate about creating space and opportunities within it for composers from historically excluded groups. Recent publications include a feature on Cait Nishimura’s “Lake Superior Suite” for WASBE World and an analysis of composer representation on Canadian festival syllabus lists for Canadian Winds. Pratik holds degrees in music education and conducting from Western University.

Nic Vasiliou is one of the most passionate young musicians in the greater Toronto area, with highly eclectic musical interests and a variety of functional industry skills. As a pianist/keyboardist, his work with established jazz, pop, and R&B musicians has allowed him to comfortably begin his career for various groups at Toronto's most popular live music venues. He has lead groups at the World of Jazz festival in Brampton and participated in events for the TU Jazz Fest around the city. He is a member of multiple premium event bands, traveling for events across southern Ontario and even abroad in Europe. As a Master's student in ethnomusicology, Nic's research interests are generally focused on the Black American musical tradition, specifically the intersection of early soul and jazz, heard in recordings throughout the 1960s.

Anna Blackburn is an MA student in ethnomusicology at York University. Her research focuses on popular music studies, as well as postwar music and radio integration in New Orleans. As a native of Monroe, Louisiana, Anna graduated summa cum laude from the University of Louisiana Monroe in 2022 with a BM in piano pedagogy and a minor in French language. While pursuing her BM, Anna was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society and a three-time recipient of the Outstanding Music Student award from ULM’s school of visual and performing arts. In addition to university training, Anna is a Musikgarten certified and licensed teacher specializing in early childhood and special needs music education. From 2020 to 2021, Anna served as Monroe district president of the Music Teachers National Association and organized various piano rallies, festivals, and youth camps. She has been a private piano and music theory teacher for over four years and is currently Monroe district co-president of the Louisiana Federation of Music Clubs.