Prior to his appointment to the Faculty of Music in 2023, Dr. Darren Hamilton taught secondary music full-time for 15 years. He was also part-time contract faculty in the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University and in the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto (U of T). In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in music education at U of T, he is the founding director of the U of T Faculty of Music Gospel Choir.

Dr. Hamilton’s research interests lie in formal gospel music pedagogy, popular music pedagogy, hip hop music education, anti-Black racism in music education and equity, diversity and social justice in music education. His work has been published in the Canadian Music Educator and the Recorder journals, produced by the Canadian Music Educators’ Association and the Ontario Music Educators’ Association (OMEA), respectively. He is sits on the board of directors for the OMEA as the Intermediate/Senior Resources Director. He is the visionary and co-author of the national MusiCounts Learn teacher resource, #BlackMusicMatters: Hip Hop & Social Justice in Canada. Dr. Hamilton has been a guest lecturer, workshop presenter and panelist for events hosted by MusiCounts, the Ontario Music Educators’ Association (OMEA), the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, York University and the University of Toronto.

Dr. Darren Hamilton was the recipient of the 2022 JUNO Award for MusiCounts Teacher of the Year, recognising his commitment to equity and diversity in music education and his professional contributions to the field of music education.