Heather Sparling

Heather Sparling

Canada Research Chair in Musical Traditions and Professor of Ethnomusicology

My research interests include Gaelic song in Nova Scotia, vernacular dance traditions of Cape Breton, and Atlantic Canadian disaster songs. My research addresses memory and memorialization as well as language revitalization through music. I am the author of *Reeling Roosters and Dancing Ducks: Celtic Mouth Music* (2014) and the editor of the journal MUSICultures. I also have a background in educational development and have been involved with the creation and revision of several academic programs at CBU. I am the principal flutist with the Cape Breton Orchestra and am learning the fiddle. I am functionally bilingual in French and Gaelic.

Expertise

Nova Scotia Gaelic song; Cape Breton vernacular dance; Atlantic Canadian disaster songs; memorials; memorialization; language and music; language revitalization with music; genre