Dr. Karen Gerelus

Dr. Karen Gerelus is a third-generation piano teacher, musician, author, and scholar. She has completed an Associate diploma in Piano Pedagogy from the Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT) and a Licentiate diploma in Piano Performance from Trinity College of London (LTCL). In 2010, she convocated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Arts, and in 2016 with a Master of Arts in Piano Pedagogy from the University of Ottawa. She recently finished her PhD at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary where her research focused on musical identities in adolescent piano students. Her other areas of interest include student-centered learning, arts-based research, and motivation. She is a proud member of the Royal Conservatory of Music’s College of Examiners.

Karen was awarded the national CFMTA Memorial Pedagogy Award for excellence in pedagogical training, she has won the CFMTA National Essay Competition twice, and received multiple research grants from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Karen’s scholarly work has been featured at conferences, in print, and on podcasts across North America.

Past teachers and examiners have commented on Karen’s “passion for teaching” and “warm and engaging manner.” Her lessons involve a variety of music – from minuets to mambos to Mission Impossible – to keep students motivated and teach sensitivity and compassion for all cultures and musical styles. Overall, her students play with beautiful technique, singing melodies, and high levels of personal satisfaction. Karen is an interesting balance of friendly and sophisticated, fun yet rigorous, and she is always full of new ideas.