Dr. Darren Hamilton is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto. In addition to being the founding director of the University of Toronto Faculty of Music Gospel Choir course, he also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music education. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, Dr. Hamilton was a high school music teacher for 15 years with the Peel District School Board. Dr. Hamilton has presented music workshops at York University, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo and the annual Ontario Music Educators’ Association Conference.

Dr. Hamilton has been the director of the PowerUp Chorale since 2017. In 2019, he led this auditioned ensemble in recording two songs for the 15th Anniversary PowerUp Gospel Live album.

Dr. Darren Hamilton is the co-founder and artistic director of the Waterloo Region Mass Choir. They released their debut EP, Not Powerless, in 2022, which features some of his original Gospel compositions and musical arrangements. He also served as co-producer and executive producer for the EP recording project, which received two 2022 GMA Canada Covenant Award nominations for “Video of the Year” and “Canadian Christian Song of the Year”.

Dr. Darren Hamilton was the recipient of the 2022 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year JUNO Award for his contributions to the field of music education.