Graduate Research Assistant - Simon Fraser University
Jim Sparks is the director of vocal music at the Langley Fine Arts School in Fort Langley, BC, directing choirs and vocal ensembles, and co-teaching the music major program. With a Bachelor of Music degree from UBC and Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Arizona, Jim has taught all levels of choirs in BC, has been a sessional faculty instructor at the University of British Columbia, and is a current faculty instructor of the BC Choral Federation’s Choral Directorship Course. Jim is the recipient of theProfession Music Educator Award from the BC Music Educators Association and the 2009 recipient of theWillan Award from the BC Choral Federation.
In demand as an adjudicator and guest conductor, Jim continues his work internationally in Europe, Africa and Latin America. A dedicated choral researcher, Jim received a Canada Council grant in 2011 to pursue collaborative singing research with the Veriovka and the Kiev Symphony choirs of Kyiv, Ukraine. Concurrently, Jim has been awarded research grants by the Canadian Music Educators’ Research, the AIRS collaborative initiative, and Simon Fraser University for collaborative cross-cultural singing research on the invitation of Cuba’s Coralina Choir (Alina Orraca), Kenya’s National Choir (Joseph Muyale Inzai), Kenya’s Children’s Community Choirs, and Denmark’s Aarhus Conservatory Choir. Continuing his Doctorate research at Simon Fraser University, Jim’s primary curiosity is with the creative and motivating elements of successful arts leadership.
