Camryn Dewar, a talented Métis vocalist and advocate for Indigenous and contemporary music has received the Fulbright Canada-Honouring Nations Student Award. She will conduct her research at Montclair State University.
The Fulbright Canada-Honouring Nations Award is a newly established initiative in partnership with the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness (SCSC). This award is dedicated to recognizing Indigenous scholars whose studies focus on belonging and social connectedness, including Indigenous conceptions of belonging and social connectedness. Camryn will also benefit from access to SCSC’s Belonging Lab, which is working to advance and share evidence-based solutions and actionable insights to bring belonging into practice across diverse sectors.
A graduate of the University of Manitoba, Camryn earned her Bachelor of Music (Vocal Performance, Distinction) and is currently pursuing a Master of Music (Performance) at Montclair State University under the mentorship of Barbara Dever, a celebrated artist from the Metropolitan Opera. With a diverse background in contemporary opera, classical, musical theatre, and jazz, Camryn’s work demonstrates her commitment to cultural advocacy and amplifying Indigenous voices through music.
Her research project, “Harmonizing Truth and Reconciliation: Vocal Performance, Indigenous Representation and Community Engagement in Music” will explore the evolution and impact of female Indigenous representation in Canadian opera from 1879 to the present. This interdisciplinary project will involve academic writing, a lecture-recital series in New Jersey and New York, and an in-depth examination of the intersection of Indigenous voices and opera.
Camryn has received numerous accolades, including the Modern Métis Woman Scholarship, Les Michif Otipemisiwak Fellowship, InPath: N’we Jinan Artworks Fellowship, and the Association of Opera in Canada Fellowship. She has also been recognized as a scholar by the Association of American University Women. Her recent performances include “The Grapes of Wrath” at Carnegie Hall with Tony Award-winning music director Ted Sperling, “Blind Injustice” in Montclair, New Jersey, “Li Keur: Riel’s Hearts of the North” with Manitoba Opera, and the “Living Music” concert at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
In addition to her musical talents, Camryn is a passionate advocate for contemporary Indigenous composers using her artistry to drive cultural change and promote truth and reconciliation through music.
About Fulbright Canada
Established in 1946, the Fulbright Program has supported over 325,000 students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists, and artists across 155 countries, remaining one of the world’s most distinguished academic honours. The program aims to foster mutual understanding and academic excellence.
Fulbright Canada is a bi-national, treaty-based, non-governmental organization that identifies and supports exceptional scholars and students in Canada and the United States by providing academic exchange programs through merit-based grants.
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About Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness
The Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness (SCSC) works with partners worldwide to realize the Right to Belong. Through research, programming, and advocacy, the Centre brings together diverse scholars, students, advocates, and people with direct lived experiences to develop and share knowledge and enact practical solutions. Since its founding in 2017, SCSC has convened four global symposia, sponsored 87 fellows serving 29 partner organizations and launched innovative service programs – all to identify, employ, and scale best practices for addressing the modern crisis of isolation and its many dimensions, including inequality, loneliness, polarization, and environmental degradation. In 2024, SCSC launched a new initiative called the Belonging Forum, which conducted a first-of-its-kind study of 10,000 people on the state of belonging in the UK.
The aim of SCSC’s partnership with Fulbright Canada’s Honouring Nations Canada is to contribute to the increased representation in academic research of Indigenous persons and communities, Indigenous issues, and social connectedness and belonging more broadly.