About
Anneli is a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Music Research at the University of Ottawa, where her research exists at the intersections of musicology, religious studies, and gender studies. Her dissertation examines the experience of women songwriters, recording artists, and worship leaders in the Nashville-based Christian music industry. In particular, she considers how women’s religious, social, and political values inform their participation in music industries, encompassing theories of celebrity and music technology; the gendered sexualization and racialization of performers; and the evolution of industry structures. Prior to beginning her PhD, Anneli completed a Master of Music in Piano Performance at the University of Ottawa, where she studied with David Jalbert and primarily performed solo piano works by women. She holds her ARCT in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music.
Anneli has presented her research at conferences in Canada, the US, Australia, and the UK, including at the American Musicological Society and the Society for Ethnomusicology. She has articles published in several journals, including
The Hymn: A Journal of Congregational Song, The Journal of Contemporary Ministry, Religions, and
Worship. She also served as the co-editor for a special edition of
Anabaptist Witness alongside Katie Graber. Anneli is a columnist for the
Leader magazine,
The Hymn, and
Canadian Mennonite. She serves on the planning committee for the Christian Congregational Music Conference and was conference co-chair for The Hymn Society in Canada and the United States’ 2023 conference in Montreal.
Grants and fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Louisvile Institute, and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship have supported Anneli’s dissertation research. She won the 2021 Canadian Federation of Music Teachers Association doctoral essay competition for
her essay on whiteness in the Royal Conservatory of Music history curriculum, and the 2022 Emerging Scholars Forum from The Hymn Society for her essay on best practices for intercultural contemporary worship music.
An experienced music educator, Anneli is particularly interested in using music picture books as an educational resource for children to learn about women in music history. Her first picture book,
The ABCs of Women in Music was published in early 2022. You can access supplementary resources and
order it here. She has worked as a research assistant for Dr. Shoshana Magnet’s examination of feminist picture books, and enjoys collecting any and all picture books about music. Anneli uses music picture books as part of her own piano teaching out of her home studio in Ottawa, ON. She has been a piano adjudicator for music festivals across Canada.
As a composer and church musician, Anneli writes music for Christian congregational worship and advocates for women’s equal involvement in community worship. She had the opportunity to serve as a committee member for the
Voices Together hymnal, where one of her primary tasks was evaluating submissions by women and advocating for the inclusion of historical and contemporary work by women. Anneli has four hymn tunes in the collection, along with over a dozen piano accompaniments. Most energizing for her is when she can enliven hymn texts by historical women, such as Hildegard von Bingen (VT #376) or Annalein von Freiburg, a 16th century Anabaptist martyr (VT #630). Anneli works as a co-director for Anabaptist Worship Network and was the director for Ontario Mennonite Music Camp for 6 years.
