Charlene A. Ryan is a musician, painter, writer, and mom. She has spent most of her life behind an instrument and in front of an audience of one kind or another. Dr. Ryan, as she is known by many, is also a professor of music education whose career centers around young musicians and their teachers.
An Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, Charlene has been in higher education for more than 20 years, with previous positions at the Berklee College of Music and McGill University. Originally a school music teacher, she has worked with children of all ages, from infants to highschoolers. While teaching at McGill and Berklee, she developed and taught in community music programs for children - Little Musicians/Very Little Musicians in Montreal and KidsJam/BabyJam in Boston (co-developed with colleague, Libby Allison).
Research into the performance experiences and anxieties of children and adolescents has played a central role in her academic life. Charlene’s work has been published widely in academic journals such as Psychology of Music, Journal of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Stress Management, Music and Science, Medical Problems of Performing Artists, Journal of Popular Music Education, Journal of Band Research, and International Journal of Music Education. She serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Research in Music Education and the Journal of Piano Research, and she recently completed terms on editorial boards for the International Journal of Music Education, Frontiers in Psychology|Performance Science, and the Canadian Music Educator (as Editor). Charlene’s research, teaching, and performing experiences combined to provide the impetus for her children's books, Hannabelle's Butterflies and The Milk Crate Club, and her middle grades book, Katherine Lost, which center about the joys and challenges experienced by young musicians. Her Sound Books, Up and Down Sounds, Big and Small Sounds, Sections of Sound, Layers of Sound, Grouping Sound, and Moving Sound (Creative Sound Press) are designed as interactive teacher:student(s)and parent:child books that allow children to explore the possibilities for musical sound creation. The combined six book collection, Playing with Sound: A Sound Books Anthology, is a recent contribution to music and creative arts classes in university and college training programs for elementary teachers and early childhood educators, providing a novel approach for educators to engage with the elements of music.
Charlene's first book, Building Strong Music Programs: A Handbook for Preservice and Novice Music Teachers (NAfME/RLE) has been a part of music teacher education programs across North America since 2009 and was recognized as an Outstanding Academic Title by the Association of College and Research Libraries. Through presentations, publications, research, teaching, and outreach, Charlene continues to play an important role in supporting teachers in their development of outstanding programs for children and adolescents.
Her equally notable and more frequently used title is Mom. Charlene's four children are the stars of her life—educating, inspiring, and sorting out her technology issues on a daily basis. Together with her ever-supportive husband and two loyal labradoodles, her house and heart are full.
