Dr. Olukunle Owolabi

Kunle received most of his musical training as a boy chorister at St. Michael's Choir school in Toronto, where he studied piano, organ, classical guitar, liturgical choral music, music theory, harmony, history and analysis, alongside the regular curriculum for elementary and high school students in Ontario, Canada. The students at St. Michael's Choir school provide music for all of the Sunday liturgies at St. Michael's Cathedral in Toronto, and also sing at weddings, funerals, ordinations, and Lenten weekday liturgies. Concurrent to this training in liturgical music, he received his ARCT diploma in piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music (in Toronto) in 1995, and his ARCT diploma in organ performance in 1996. During his last year of high school, he served as acting organist at St. Michael's Cathedral (Toronto), where he was responsible for the organ solo music, hymn playing, and choral accompaniments for three masses every Sunday.

During his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, he worked part-time as organist and choir director at St. Isaac Jogues church, one of the largest parishes in the archdiocese of Toronto (1998-2001). During his Master's degree at Oxford University, he served as the chapel organist at Mansfield College, Oxford (2001-2003). The following year, he served as organist and choir director at St. Basil's church, the parish church for Catholic liturgies at the University of Toronto. During his doctoral studies in political science at the University of Notre Dame (2004-11), he sang with the Notre Dame Basilica Schola and served as a cantor for weekday masses at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. At Villanova University, where he currently works as a political science professor (since 2011), he also regularly plays organ and piano for weekend masses at St. Thomas of Villanova parish. In addition to his experience as an organist, pianist, cantor and chorister, he is also a published composer of choral music which has been performed and recorded by various choirs in United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.