Public Seminar Series

The Music on the Mind series features eminent minds and musicians discussing the relationship between music and the human brain and the related links to social wellbeing, participation, learning and development and the role of music in our contemporary communities.

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The Music, Mind and Wellbeing initiative is proud to present this archive of our past engagement activities.

For upcoming events and seminars, please view here.

The Genetic Basis Of Singing: Twins And Musical Ability

Speaker: Professor Sarah Wilson & Yi Ting Tan

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre - Salon

Date: 28/06/2017

Time: 6:00 pm

The Genetic Basis of Singing: Twins and Musical Ability

Presenters: Professor Sarah Wilson & Yi Ting Tan

As part of the ongoing relationship with the Melbourne Recital Centre, this event engages the public with Melbourne Conservatorium of Music research on systematic enquiries into the genetic basis of musical ability, as understood from the study of twins. 

Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre and Music, Mind and Wellbeing initiative at The University of Melbourne

Admission: $10 (bookings are essential). Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website. (link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/events/2017/genetic-basis-of-singing-twins-and-musical-ability-/)

Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website.

Music And Trauma Recovery

Speaker: Prof Felicity Baker, Dr Samantha Dieckmann, James Richmond

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre - Salon

Date: 12/04/2017

Time: 6:00 pm

Music and Trauma Recovery

Presenters: Professor Felicity Baker, Dr Samantha Dieckmann & James Richmond.

As part of the ongoing relationship with the Melbourne Recital Centre, this event engages the public with Melbourne Conservatorium of Music research on systematic enquiries into how music can assist in the recovery of trauma.

How do you cope post-trauma? How can you reconstruct your identity, manage your relationships and your capacity to engage? What role can music have in such cases? Experts from different fields of music research discuss this topic as it relates to cultural trauma for displaced peoples, post-traumatic stress disorder for those who have experienced extreme conflict situations, and neurological trauma for those who have experienced spinal or brain injury.

Felicity Baker is an internationally renowned music therapist and professor of music therapy research at the University of Melbourne. She has specific expertise in understanding the role of songwriting in promoting positive self-growth following trauma. She is a former ARC Future Fellow, Past President of The Australian Music Therapy Association, and currently Associate Editor for the Journal of Music Therapy.

Samantha Dieckmann is a postdoctoral research fellow at The University of Melbourne working with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions and Multicultural Arts Victoria. Her research explores the deployment of music in conciliation as it relates to personal, religious and political areas of conflict, and the processes of emotional community and empathy that lead to resolution.

James Richmond has performed regularly with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria and has taught music and run workshops from primary to tertiary level for over fifteen years. James is a provisionally registered psychologist, and PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne exploring the cognitive, social and clinical implications of rhythmic synchronization for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre and Music, Mind and Wellbeing initiative at The University of Melbourne

Admission: $10 (bookings are essential). Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website. (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/)

Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website. Listen to the podcast here: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/news/2017/05/music-on-the-mind-music-and-trauma-podcast/

Music On The Mind Series: Alive Inside - Music & Dementia

Speaker: Drs Amee Baird, Jeanette Tamplin & Sandra Garrido

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 12/08/2016

Time: 6:00 pm

Alive Inside: Music and Dementia

Dementia is one of the biggest challenges facing society today, with both patient and caregiver quality of life being affected. In this presentation, three leading researchers in clinical neuropsychology, music therapy and music psychology discuss the significant cognitive and socio-emotional benefits music can offer those whose lives are touched by this disease. Case studies include examples of patients finding lucidity and focus, a continuous and positive present as well as recalling positive memories, all aided by music.

Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre and Music, Mind and Wellbeing initiative at The University of Melbourne.

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website. (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/)

Podcasts of the lecture are available on the Melbourne Recital Centre website.

Dr Amee Baird is a clinical neuropsychologist and works in the Department of Psychology at Macquarie University and her fellowship explores:  ‘Can music mend minds? Investigating the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of music on persons with dementia.’

Dr Jeanette Tamplin a clinical music therapist and works at the Melbourne Conservatorium of music, her fellowship focuses on:  ‘Choir participation to improve wellbeing and relationship quality for community-dwelling people with dementia and their primary care-givers.’

Dr Sandra Garrido is a music psychologist who works at the MARCS Laboratory at Western Sydney University. Her fellowship explores: ‘Mood regulation using music: A community health strategy for improving quality of life in people with mild dementia.’

Accessing Music, Accessing Ourselves: Exploring Our Relationship With Music Today

Speaker: Dr Amanda E. Krause, Curtin University

Venue: Tallis Wing, MCM, The University Of Melbourne.

Date: 23/06/2016

Time: 6:00 pm

Accessing music, accessing ourselves: Exploring our relationship with music today

With an aim to better understand the place that music occupies in everyday, modern life, this presentation will address recent findings of psychology research that concern our daily interactions with music.  Specifically, the presentation considers how music fits in with other contemporaneous activities, and focuses on how we access and select music to listen to.  Additionally, the presentation will highlight how our interactions with music influence our perceived well-being.

Amanda Krause is a postdoctoral Research Associate in the School of Psychology and Speech Pathology at Curtin University.  She is interested in the social and applied psychology of music, with a focus on everyday music interactions.  Specifically, Amanda's interests concern listening behaviours (with an emphasis on considering digital music and emerging web technologies) and the intersection of everyday music interactions and well-being.  She is currently collaborating with Professors Adrian North (Curtin), Jane Davidson (UniMelb) and Katrina Skewes McFerran (UniMelb) on an ARC Discovery Project, ‘Musical investment: assessing and enabling musical participation for well being impact across the lifespan’.

Music On The Mind Series: Music, Mind And Mozart: Does Listening To Music Make You Smarter?

Speaker: Professors Jane Davidson And Gary Mcpherson

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 20/04/2016

Time: 5:30 pm

Music, Mind and Mozart

Does listening to Mozart make you smarter? Can we experience intellectual transfer effects when learning a musical instrument?

Internationally acclaimed music educators and psychologists Professors Jane Davidson and Gary McPherson offer critical insights to unpick the impact of music on the mind.

Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre and Music, Mind and Wellbeing initiative at The University of Melbourne

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website. (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/). Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website. Listen here: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/news/2016/04/music-on-the-mind-april-recording-now-available/

Time-limited Guided Imagery And Music (GIM) With Professional Musicians

Speaker: Prof Gro Trondalen (Norway)

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 28/10/2015

Time: 6:00 pm

Musicians have the most wonderful profession; they have the opportunity to create music as an art form for a vibrant audience. However, being trained and working as a musician, also means confronting one’s physical, mental, and existential wellbeing. This presentation addresses time limited individual Guided Imagery and Music with professional musicians: exploring music listening as a health resource. I propose an open music listening approach, supported by drawings and verbal conversation, in order to integrate and balance the physical/mental and existential dimensions of life in the name of excellence in performance and an enriched personal life.

Nurturing Creativity: From Infant Songs To Symphonies

Speaker: Prof Margaret Barrett

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 23/09/2015

Time: 6:00 pm

It has been observed that creativity awaits the prepared mind. For educators and parents alike what prepares the mind for creative thought and activity is of major interest. This lecture will draw on the findings of a series of longitudinal studies of infants and young children’s music-making to trace the developmental pathways to music creativity. Prof Barrett will discuss the facilitators and constraints on young children’s creative thought and activity in family settings and consider the implications for curriculum and pedagogy in music education. The discussion will be extended through reference to recent research on the pedagogy of creativity when expert composers work with non-neophyte student composers.

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website. (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/). Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website. Listen here: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/news/2015/09/music-on-the-mind-september-podcast-now-available/

Amps Seminar Series: What Is Human Musicality And Why It Is Important

Speaker: Prof Raymond Macdonald

Venue: Old Arts Theatre B, University Of Melbourne, Parkville

Date: 13/08/2015

Time: 6:00 pm

Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose: What is human musicality and why it is important.

This presentation outlines a number of different perspectives investigating the relationship between music and health while presenting evidence to support the assertion "We are all Musical".  Possible reasons relating to why music may have beneficial effects on health are explored; these include a discussion of social, cultural neurological, medical, developmental and education issues. The contrasting but related contributions of music therapy, community music and music education will be discussed and research examples will highlight various ways in which music and health can be studied. Particular emphasis will be placed upon the importance of improvisation as an accessible, unique, spontaneous, social and creative process that can facilitate collaboration between many musical genres and across disciplines.

Venue: Old Arts Theatre B, The University of Melbourne, Parkville

Time: 6pm Thursday 13th August, 2015

Raymond MacDonald is Professor of Music Psychology and Improvisation   and Head of The School of Music at University of Edinburgh.

As a saxophonist and composer he has released over 50 CDs and toured and broadcast worldwide. He has written music for film, television, theatre, radio and art installations and much of his work explores he boundaries and ambiguities between what is conventionally seen as improvisation and composition.  Collaborating with musicians such as David Byrne, Evan Parker, Jim O'Rourke and Marilyn Crispell his work informed by a view of improvisation as a social, collaborative   and uniquely creative process that provides opportunities to develop new ways of working musically. He is a key player and a founding member of The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra.

After completing his PhD at the University of Glasgow, investigating therapeutic applications of music, he worked as Artistic Director for a music company, Sounds of Progress, specialising in working with people who have special needs.  He runs music workshops and lectures internationally and has published over 60 peer reviewed papers and book chapters.  He has co-edited four texts, Musical   Identities (2002) and Musical Communication (2005), Musical Imaginations (2012) and Music Health & Wellbeing (2012) and was editor of the journal Psychology of Music between 2006 and 2012. He is an associate editor for The International Journal of Music Education, Jazz Research Journal, Research Studies in Music Education, Musicae Scientiae, and The Journal of Music Therapy.

His on-going research focuses on issues relating to improvisation, musical communication, music health and wellbeing, music education and musical identities. He studies the processes and outcomes of music participation and music listening and has a particular interest in collaborative creativity. His new coedited text with David Hargreaves and Dorothy Miell "The Oxford Handbook of Musical Identities" is due for publication in 2016.

Vocal Emotion Processing In Autism Spectrum Disorder & Twin Study On Singing Ability

Speaker: Valerie Yap & Yi Ting Tan

Venue: University Of Melbourne, Old Arts Building, Theatre B

Date: 23/07/2015

Time: 6:00 pm

This seminar is presented as part of the Australian Music and Psychology Society (AMPS) seminar series.

Topic 1: Individual Differences in Vocal Emotion Processing: Findings from the General Population and Implications for Autism Spectrum Disorder (Valerie Yap, PhD Candidate).

While the “voice” is a powerful medium for communicating affective states, little is known about the role of empathy and personality traits on one’s ability to process emotions from the vocal cues of others. This presentation will provide an overview of existing behavioural/neuroimaging research that support the hypothesised relationship between these constructs, and outline findings from our novel study exploring this relationship in a sample of typically developing adults. Implications of our findings for understanding the social communication difficulties in Autism Spectrum Disorder will also be discussed.

Topic 2: “Let’s Hear Twins Sing!”: The first online twin study on singing ability (Yi Ting Tan, PhD Candidate).

“Since singing is so good a thing, I wish all men would learn to sing.” William Byrd
Singing is a ubiquitous trait in all known human societies. The ability to sing emerges early and spontaneously in human development and is thought to precede speech abilities. Although singing appears to be a natural disposition, the degree of singing aptitude varies across individuals. At one end of the ability spectrum there are those who cannot carry a tune, whereas at the other end, there are individuals who appear to have naturally good singing ability even before receiving any formal training. While singing confers numerous physical, cognitive, mental and social benefits to humans, a clear understanding of singing ability and its emergence and development is still lacking. Investigating the extent to which singing ability is shaped by genetic and environmental influences will thus help to shed some light on how “all men would learn to sing” and enjoy all the benefits and gratification that arise from singing.

To this end, we have collaborated with the Australian Twin Registry and conducted the world’s first online twin study to objectively assess the heritability of singing ability, focusing on pitch production. In this seminar, our preliminary findings from the twin study will be presented. “This research was facilitated through access to the Australian Twin Registry, a national resource supported by a Centre of Research Excellence Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council.”

Music As An Intervention In Paediatric And Adult Populations With Disorders Of Consciousness

Speaker: A/Prof Wendy Magee

Venue: Vernon Collins Room, Health Education Learning Precinct, Royal Children's Hospital, 50 Flemington Rd, Parkville

Date: 20/05/2015

Time: 5:00 pm

Music as an intervention in paediatric and adult populations with disorders of consciousness 

PUBLIC LECTURE - A/Prof Wendy Magge

5pm, May 20th, 2015

Vernon Collins Room

Health Education Learning Precinct

Royal Children’s Hospital

50 Flemington Rd, Parkville

Using clinical illustrations and examples from neuroscience, this presentation will outline the latest evidence for using music as a diagnostic tool and medium for intervention with children, adolescents and adults who have complex needs stemming from acquired brain injury and disorders of consciousness.

Assoc. Prof. Wendy Magee, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA 

With over 25 years’ experience working in neurology, Wendy Magee has extensive specialist clinical skills in this area and has pursued a range of research with adults and children with neurological conditions including traumatic brain injury, stroke, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Huntington’s Disease, low awareness states, and Locked-in Syndrome. Dr. Magee is widely published in peer-reviewed journals, with 25 book chapters in edited volumes, and editor of the text Music Technology in Therapeutic and Health Settings. Her current research and theoretical priorities include developing the evidence base for Music Therapy practice in neurology and rehabilitation, including developing and testing treatment methods and measurement tools, and within interdisciplinary practice.

Light refreshments will be served after the lecture.

Please register here by Friday 15th May, 2015

Music On The Mind Lecture 5: Why Aren’t There More One-man Bands? The Psychology Of Musical Ensemble Performance

Speaker: Associate Professor Peter Keller

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 09/12/2014

Time: 6:00 pm

Musical ensemble performance is a social art form in which multiple individuals coordinate their actions in order to communicate aesthetic goals. Achieving these goals requires specialized cognitive-motor ensemble skills that facilitate precise yet flexible interpersonal coordination. This lecture will address the psychological processes and brain mechanisms that enable such coordination. Peter will describe key findings from research on the role of individual differences in cognitive-motor ensemble skills that allow co-performers to anticipate, attend, and adapt to each other’s actions in real time. He will also discuss the potential influence of social-psychological factors, including aspects of personality, upon the operation of these cognitive-motor ensemble skills.

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website. (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/). Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website.

Music On The Mind Lecture 4: The Paradox Of Tragedy: Why Do We Like Sad Music?

Speaker: Dr Sandra Garrido

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 13/10/2014

Time: 6:00 pm

Human society puts a high value on the attainment of happiness. Why then, do people willing listen to music that makes them feel sad? This attraction to tragedy has puzzled philosophers since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. This lecture will consider the philosophical arguments that have been proposed throughout the centuries as well as looking at recent empirical research investigating the phenomenon. It will be argued that listening to sad music can serve useful psychological functions for many people while forming part of unhealthy emotion regulation patterns in other individuals.

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website. (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/). Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website. Listen here: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/news/2014-/10/music-on-the-mind-october-podcast-now-available/

Music On The Mind Lecture 3: 8 Things To Give Up…and Not One Of Them Is Music

Speaker: Dr Margaret Osborne

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 22/09/2014

Time: 6:00 pm

Music affords many benefits for our mental health and wellbeing. In a cruel twist of fate, the act of performing music can be so distressing that it is endured with dread and fear, and in extreme cases, leads some to avoid performing altogether. In this seminar Margaret will integrate a performance case study with one of Australia’s leading performers and music educators, clarinetist Paul Dean, to discuss the eight common triggers to music performance anxiety. She’ll show how musicians at all levels, from young learners in the precious formative years of their musical life to those who take the stage at a violin concerto, might be able to give up these triggers to invite more musical performance, and thus wellbeing, into our lives.

Listen to the podcast of the talk here. (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/news/2014-/09/music-on-the-mind-september-podcast-now-available/)

http://mmw.unimelb.edu.au/ckfinder/userfiles/images/8%20things%20to%20give%20up_Wellness%20Hotspot%20Fb.jpg

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website. (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/). Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website.

Vocal Music Therapy: An Embodied Approach To Chronic Pain Management

Speaker: Prof Joke Bradt

Venue: Old Arts Theatre B, Melbourne University, Parkville Campus

Date: 11/09/2014

Time: 6:00 pm

MMW and the Australian Music Psychology Society are co-hosting a public seminar by US music therapist and researcher Professor Joke Bradt. Details provided below.

All staff and students are welcome!

Presenter : Prof Joke Bradt, PhD, MT-BC. Drexel University, Department of Creative Arts Therapies (Philadelphia, USA)

Lecture title: Vocal Music Therapy: An Embodied Approach to Chronic Pain Management.

Location: Old Arts Theatre B, Melbourne University, Parkville Campus

Abstract: This presentation will introduce the attendees to the use of vocal music therapy (VMT) for chronic pain management. Through clinical examples and video segments of actual VMT session, Dr. Bradt will discuss how vocal music therapy activates mechanisms that play an important role in the management of chronic pain. She will also present the results of an NIH-funded study on the effects of VMT on core outcomes in chronic pain management.

Music On The Mind Lecture 2: Therapeutic Effects Of Singing

Speaker: Dr Jeanette Tamplin

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 06/08/2014

Time: 6:00 pm

Awareness of the social, psychological, and physical health benefits of singing has increased significantly over the past decade. Singing has been reported to improve mood, decrease stress hormone levels, facilitate social connection, and even boost immune function. In this presentation, Jeanette will share findings from her research into the therapeutic application of singing in rehabilitation and discuss the benefits of singing as an accessible, non-invasive, and cost-effective way to improve health and wellbeing.

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website. (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/). Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website. Listen here: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/news/2014-/08/new-newsarticlepost/

Music On The Mind Lecture 1: Memories Are Made Of This: Exploring The Psychology Of Learning And Memory In Music And Dance

Speaker: Professor Kate Stephens

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 30/06/2014

Time: 6:00 pm

Our brains have a remarkable capacity to learn. This talk discusses processes of learning and memory in music and dance, with an emphasis on learning without formal instruction. Can we learn without conscious awareness? What cues from the environment become part of our long-term memory? How does the early learning of a “tonal” language, such as Thai, affect perception of music? When is silence “golden” in learning and remembering?

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website. (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/). Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website. Listen here: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/news/2014-/07/music-on-the-mind-june-podcast-now-available/

Songwriting To Effect Changes In Self-concept And Wellbeing Following Acquired Brain Injury Or Spinal Cord Injury: A Feasibility Study

Speaker: Associate Professor Felicity Baker

Venue: Old Arts Theatre B, University Of Melbourne, Parkville

Date: 29/05/2014

Time: 6:00 pm

People who have acquired a brain or spinal cord injury often experience significant emotional upheaval as they begin to process and acknowledge the long-term implications of their injuries. This feasibility study examined the effect of a targeted songwriting intervention on self-concept and wellbeing in adults with acquired brain injury or spinal cord injury. Six inpatients undergoing rehabilitation following a brain or spinal cord injury participated in 12 individual songwriting sessions over 6 weeks. The sessions were designed to support participants to create songs that explored issues of identity – with the aim of integrating aspects of the past pre-injured self with that of the new injured self. Participants created 3 songs – a song about the past self, the present self, and a future self. They completed a battery of pre, post, and follow up standardized measures designed to determine changes in self-concept, affect, anxiety and depression, satisfaction with life, and sense of flourishing. Changes to self-concept and wellbeing were in the positive direction demonstrating the capacity for this methodology to detect changes in this population. Data collection from control group participants is currently under way which will enable stronger inferences about the effects of the intervention. This presentation will discuss the findings to date and illustrate how self-concept changes are reflected in song lyrics.

Music On The Mind Lecture 5: Music And Happiness: How Music Promotes Emotional Health And Wellbeing?

Speaker: Associate Professor Nikki Rickard

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 04/11/2013

Time: 6:00 pm

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/).

Music is an emotional elixir. It helps us manage our negative moods and experience highly pleasurable emotions. Music can also generate intensely sad and fearful emotions, and influence more complex states such as our sense of meaning and purpose in life.  In this presentation, Nikki Rickard explores how research is providing insight into when music is beneficial for our emotional wellbeing, and when it might be used to signal ill health. The role of music as a means for young people to self-manage symptoms of depression will also be explored.

Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website. Listen here: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/news/2013/11/listen-to-the-music-on-the-mind-november-podcast/

Music On The Mind Lecture 4: The Tills Are Alive With The Sound Of Muzak: Effects Of In-store Music On Consumer Behaviour And Attitudes

Speaker: Professor Adrian North

Venue :Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 30/09/2013

Time: 6:00 pm

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/).

The use of music in shops, bars and the like has long been the source of considerable light-hearted derision. The playwright J. B. Priestly once bragged of having “had it turned off in the best of places”. However, research has accumulated over the past two decades showing the myriad effects it can have. Some of these are positive for business, by for example increasing spending, influencing product choice, or even helping to control the speed and direction of customer movements. Some of these effects are positive for consumers also, by improving mood in commercial premises and helping customers to achieve their goals. This talk presents an overview of some of the many effects of music that have been identified, with particular emphasis on their commercial implications.

Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website. Listen here: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/news/2013/10/music-on-the-mind-september-podcast-now-available/

Music On The Mind Lecture 3: Finding Your Song: Constructing New Meaning Through Songwriting

Speaker: Associate Professor Felicity Baker

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 19/08/2013

Time: 6:00 pm

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/).

Throughout the ages, songs have told people’s stories about love, memories, relationships, loss, hardships, pain and suffering. Songwriters are transformed as they explore, reflect, resolve, and reconstruct meaning in life through the creation of lyrics and music. Their songs are syntheses of their personal processes or representations of their transformed selves. In this presentation, Felicity will share findings from her research regarding the role of songwriting as a transformative tool for people suffering from a range of significant health conditions.

Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website. Listen here: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/news/2013/08/music-on-the-mind-august-podcast-now-available/

Music On The Mind Lecture 2: The Dag Factor. Why We Like Music With Contagious Emotions

Speaker: Associate Professor Emery Schubert

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 15/07/2013

Time: 6:00 pm

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/).

Many people enjoy music that makes them feel strong emotions.  However, music psychologists have become interested in the distinction between felt emotion and the emotion that the music is representing.  For example, a piece might make a listener feel little emotion, while the music itself expresses very strong emotions.  Such a simultaneous difference in emotions has only recently been researched, and one study of this difference suggests that people like music when the emotion felt is well matched with the expressed emotion: This matching has been referred to as the 'Differential Affect Gap' (DAG).  In this presentation I will report how the DAG factor works, and how it might be explained.  An interesting idea arises from the philosophical view that music has human-like qualities, and just as with humans, we can have empathising responses to music. Thus, we are able to 'capture' a contagious emotion in music as we do when naturally smiling when we see a friend smiling, and feel an empathic sadness when we see that person feeling sad.

Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website. Listen here: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/news/2013/07/music-on-the-mind-podcast-now-available/

Music On The Mind Lecture 1: The Language Of Music, And The Music Of Language

Speaker: Professor Bill Thompson

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 17/06/2013

Time: 6:00 pm

Although this event is free, bookings are essential. Tickets can be booked through the Melbourne Recital Centre website (Link: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/).

Scholars throughout history have contemplated the association between music and language, including Plato, Rousseau, and Darwin. Charles Darwin speculated that before our ancestors developed the capacity to communicate through language, they communicated using an earlier music-like "protolanguage" that was highly emotional in nature. In this talk, we will explore the emotional nature of music and its association with emotional speech, and I will show that emotion is a pivotal link between these two forms of human communication. I will also consider the complex emotional messages that are contained within popular music and the effects that such messages can have, the extent to which we can understand emotional messages in music and speech from others cultures, and the emotional body movements and facial expressions that people make when they are speaking or performing music.

Podcasts of the lecture will be available a few days after the event on the Melbourne Recital Centre website. Listen here: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/news/2013/06/music-on-the-mind-june-podcast-now-available/

Peak Performance Psychology

Speaker: Dr Don Greene

Venue: Auditorium, Melbourne Brain Centre, Royal Parade, University Of Melbourne

Date: 18/04/2013

Time: 6:00 pm

The Faculty of the VCA & MCM, in association with Music, Mind and Wellbeing and the Melbourne Neurosciences Institute at The University of Melbourne presents

Dr Don Greene
Performance and Sports Psychologist

When? Thursday 18 April 2013, 6-7pm

Where? The Auditorium, Melbourne Brain Centre

Genetics Lane, Royal Parade, the University of Melbourne

Cost? This is a FREE talk, but bookings essential. Please click here to register.

Seminar summary

Although Peak Performances cannot be forced, understanding the components of these transcendent, valued moments of superior human functioning may allow them to occur more frequently, with greater intensity, and longer duration. This presentation will address the common characteristics of peak experiences, peak performances, and flow states. The works of Drs. Maslow, James, Nideffer, Csikszenentmihaly, and Garfield and Bennett will be discussed, along with an exploration of the characteristics of the autotelic personality, left and right brain phenomenon, and increasing the probability of getting in the zone and staying there longer.

Biography

Don Greene has been helping people overcome performance anxiety for over 25 years, including musicians, actors, dancers, professional sportspeople and police SWAT officers.

He earned his doctorate in sports psychology at the United States International University in San Diego, and subsequently developed an assessment tool that has proven critical in helping performing artists: the Performance Skills Inventory.

Greene has taught at The Juilliard School and the New World Symphony orchestral academy. Artists he has worked with have won auditions for major orchestras and opera companies in the United States.

He is the author of three books: Audition Success, Performance Success and Fight Your Fear and Win, and continues to work one-on-one with performing artists from his studio in San Diego.

Music On The Mind Lecture 4: Finding Your Singing Voice

Speaker :A/Prof Sarah Wilson

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 08/10/2012

Time: 6:00 pm

What happens in the brain when we sing? Singing and speaking are our two main forms of communicating with sound yet we still know very little about how they are related in the brain. This presentation reviews what we do know about the brain when we sing, speak, or sing with words. The findings are important for understanding how the brain changes with singing training, and how we can use singing to retrain the brain to speak after injury.

This seminar was presented by Associate Professor Sarah Wilson, Director of MMW, and Reader in neuropsychology, auditory neuroscience and music psychology at the University of Melbourne's School of Psychological Sciences.

Music On The Mind Lecture 3: Moved By Music

Speaker: Professor Jane Davidson

Venue: The Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 25/09/2012

Time: 6:00 pm

What if pianist Franz Liszt had performed behind a screen? Would the reported 'poetry' of his performance have been diminished?  Do you tap your toe when listening to up-beat music? This talk examines how musicians use movements to convey emotional expressivity, rely on corporeal information to maintain group cohesion in ensemble performance and use the spontaneously produced movements like finger clicking when listening to music. The theoretical foundation of the presentation will be 'embodied cognition', that is, the view that knowledge is attained through sensorimotor representations of the world and that the human body acts as the main mediator between our thoughts and the environment.

This seminar was presented by Professor Jane Davidson, Callaway/Tunley Chair of Music; Director of the Callaway Centre at the University of Western Australia; and Leader of the Performance Program for the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for the History of the Emotions.

Music On The Mind Lecture 2: Artistry And The Ear Of The Beholder

Speaker: A/Prof Dorottya Fabian

Venue: The Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 20/08/2012

Time: 6:00 pm

Listeners and critics are quick to decide who the greatest interpreters of classical music are. But the evidence of sound recordings tells a sobering story regarding changes of taste and expert opinion. This is nowhere clearer than in the history of performing J. S. Bach's music. In this presentation Dorottya Fabian will discuss the implications for our understanding of music's expressive and emotional power. Following Dorottya Fabian's talk, there will be a facilitated panel discussion on the topic.

This talk forms part of Melbourne Recital Centre's "Music and The Mind" series, which explores the relationship between music and the human brain and the related links to social wellbeing, participation, learning and development and the role of music in our contemporary communities.

Location: The Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre, Cnr Southbank Boulevard & Sturt Street, Southbank, Vic.

Music On The Mind 2012 Lecture 1: Australia's Endangered Song Traditions

Speaker: Dr Sally Treloyn

Venue: The Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre

Date: 24/07/2012

Time: 6:00 pm

Across the globe, the oral-transmitted song traditions of Indigenous peoples are facing extinction. This loss of song traditions presents a crisis for world society, for which the production of music, like language, is an important mode of human sociality, and for which musical, linguistic and cultural diversity is vital for the future of humanity. This presentation will discuss the state of endangered song traditions in Australia, explore why this is a crisis for local stakeholders and the Nation, and outline recent efforts in trans-disciplinary ethnomusicology to safeguard these traditions for the future.

This talk forms part of Melbourne Recital Centre's "Music and The Mind" series, which explores the relationship between music and the human brain and the related links to social wellbeing, participation, learning and development and the role of music in our contemporary communities. This event is presented in association with Music, Mind & Wellbeing at The University of Melbourne.

Important Ticketing Information

This event is free and general admission, however tickets are required for entry. Tickets may be ordered at www.melbournerecital.com.au.

Tickets only guarantee you a seat if you enter the Salon before 5.50pm. If you are not seated by 5.50pm, then entry is not guaranteed and your tickets may become invalid.

In reserving tickets for this event, you agree to the conditions above.

CAN'T RESERVE A TICKET?

If you are unable to reserve a ticket, then it is likely that all tickets are allocated.  You are still welcome to arrive at the Centre and after 5.50pm, you are welcome to any unoccupied seating. Please note that if you choose to arrive without a ticket, there is no guarantee of seating or entry to the event.

Adolescents' Experiences Of Music: Gaining "insider" Knowledge About Contexts, Engagement And Personal Meanings

Speaker: A/Professor Susan O'Neill, Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow

Venue: Tallis Wing, Melbourne Conservatorium Of Music, Gate 12, Royal Parade, The University Of Melbourne

Date: 12/04/2012

Time: 6:00 pm

Cost: Free
Bookings: http://mmwampsapril2012.eventbrite.com

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There is evidence that the involvement of young people as collaborators in the process of research contributes to the value and relevance of the information gathered. Young people, working within their own peer cultures, have a perspective that is not always easy for researchers and teachers to tap into. Yet, their “insider” knowledge can make an important contribution to understanding the ways in which young people relate to it, interpret it, respond to it emotionally, and make their own personal, meaningful connections. Drawing on a blend of positive youth development, emotional and motivational competence frameworks, and real-world learning research, A/Prof O'Neill will discuss how different perspectives frame aspects of youth experience in ways that enable purposeful engagement by some while creating barriers and constraints for others. A/Prof O'Neill will also discuss how a psychological approach can both shed light and obfuscate our understanding of motivation and emotional expression in adolescents' experiences of music.

Biography:

Associate Professor O'Neill is an authoritative and distinctive figure in music psychology, arts and music education and performance internationally. A/Prof O’Neill is primarily a music psychology researcher and arts education theorist who has undertaken pioneering research on artistic and skill development and the acquisition of expert musical skills. She has been an invited speaker at many universities around the world, including Oxford, Cambridge, University of London, Harvard, Northwestern, Columbia, and she has taught in universities in Canada, England, Hong Kong, Portugal and the United States. From 2001-2003 she was awarded Visiting Fellowship at the University of Michigan, USA. She has over 100 publications, including 15 chapters in books published by Oxford University Press. She is currently the Senior Editor of the Canadian Music Educators’ Association Biennial Book Series, Research to Practice. She is also currently the Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow to the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, confirming her International distinction and relevance to the field of music psychology.

The 2012 Brotherton Lecture: Music In The Brain

Speaker: Professor Isabelle Peretz, International Laboratory For Brain, Music And Sound Research (BRAMS), University Of Montreal

Venue: Carrillo Gantner Lecture Theatre, Sidney Myer Asia Centre, The University Of Melbourne

Date: 08/03/2012

Time: 7:00 pm

Of all the performing arts, music is the most mysterious. Why and how music works on our brain will be the focus of this talk. The study of musical emotions plays a crucial role in this neurobiological perspective. Indeed, musical emotions are inherent to experiences of music and may account for its ubiquity, its therapeutic effects and its benefits to cognitive functioning.

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