Friday, January 30, 2015
Gender and the composition of music
last year, the founding editor of Psychology of Music, Dr Desmond
Sergeant, and myself published what proved to become a very successful
article in Frontiers of Psychology / Cognitive Science, titled "Gender
and the Performance of Music". Information about free access to this
article is provided within my email signature.
We are now following up with this research with a particular focus on
gender and musical composition.
The systematic acquisition of data is multidimensional, and we have
been quite successful in recruiting participants for all but one
strand of this research, the independent evaluation of the musical
extracts themselves.
This is a very simple listening test, that has absolutely nothing to
do with gender, and absolutely nothing to do with musical ability.
SOLELY your personal belief regarding some musical characteristics of
the piece (the composition itself).
Practically, we need you to listen to 36 classical music extracts and
rate them on 4 different scales.
This should be quite an exciting endeavour, as we have worked very
hard to create a compilation of pieces that are fairly unknown.
We would be grateful if you could contribute to our research. This
should last anything from 15 minutes to 45 minutes (depending on
whether you would like to enjoy the full extract before making a
decision).
The link to the online listening test is:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9P3FV6S
Thank you in advance for your consideration, and participation.
all best wishes,
Evangelos
--
Dr Evangelos Himonides FBCS CITP
Reader in Technology, Education and Music
iMerc Co-Director
UCL Institute of Education
University College London
20, Bedford Way
London, WC1H 0AL
United Kingdom
T: +442076126599
F: +442076126741
W: http://www.imerc.org
|----------------------------------- FREE ACCESS
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Sergeant, D. C., & Himonides, E. (2014). Gender and the performance of music.
Cognitive Science, 5, 276. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00276
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00276/abstract
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Thursday, January 29, 2015
Fwd: Benefits of music education are reinforced in a new publication - Press Notice
"Compelling evidence" for the benefits of music education are revealed
in a new research review by internationally renowned Professor Susan
Hallam MBE, UCL Institute of Education.
Commissioned by the Music Education Council (MEC) and published by the
International Music Education Research Centre (iMerc), The Power of
Music - a research synthesis of the impact of actively making music on
the intellectual, social and personal development of children and
young people brings together the vast amount of quality research
evidence that has built up over recent years.
It provides the basis for the argument that every child and young
person should have access to quality music making opportunities and
supports calls for schools to ensure that all pupils receive a
thorough, broad and high quality music education.
Professor Susan Hallam, MBE said: "The research shows there is
compelling evidence for the benefits of music education on a wide
range of skills including: listening skills which support the
development of language skills, awareness of phonics and enhanced
literacy; spatial reasoning which supports the development of some
mathematical skills; and, where musical activities involve working in
groups, a wide range of personal and social skills which also serve to
enhance overall academic attainment even when measures of intelligence
are taken into account.
"The benefits are greatest when musical activities start early and
continue over a long period of time. The teaching of music must also
be of high quality for the benefits to emerge. If the quality is poor
then the benefits will not be evident."
Angela Ruggles, General Manager of MEC said: "This important
publication is a cornerstone of MEC's advocacy work. It provides
strong arguments that justify the inclusion of music in the education
of every child and young person. MEC commissioned the updating of
Professor Hallam's earlier research synthesis as part of its drive to
persuade school leaders of the importance of a strong music presence
in their schools"
Notes to editors:
1) For further details, e-mail admin@mec.org.uk or phone 07735 368846
2) The Power of Music - a research synthesis of the impact of actively
making music on the intellectual, social and personal development of
children and young people is available for purchase from here or can
be downloaded as PDF files. Download the Executive Summary (12 pages)
or Full document (178 pages).
3) This publication builds on Professor Hallam's earlier work The
power of music: its impact of the intellectual, personal and social
development of children and young people (2010) with analyses of
significant new research carried out in the last five years.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Helmut Lachenmann, Monday 16 February 2015 at 19:15, King's College London
a study day to celebrate the work of Professor Helmut Lachemann in his
eightieth year.
The study day is promoted by the Institute of Musical Research and the
Institute of Modern Languages Research, School of Advanced Study,
University of London, in association with Kings College London, and
supported by the Hepner Foundation and the Embassy of the Federal
Republic of Germany, London.
Would you please pass the information to any of your staff and
students who may be interested.
The evening talk and concert are free for students and under 18s.
Monday, January 26, 2015
MISSING MALE SYNDROME
How To Renew Male Voice Singing
This is the cry that's heard in more and more choirs today. In fact it
even has a name now. It's called the 'MISSING MALE SYNDROME'.
The Boy's Changing Voice in Adolescence - Friday 20th February
Where are All the Men in Choirs? - Sat. 21st February
And Deep Things are Song: A Stunning Day of Male Voice Singing - Sun.
22nd February
For more details & the booking form on the leaflet use this link:
http://www.tonalismusic.co.uk/images/pdfs/20-22_February_3_Workshops_on_Male_Voice_Singing.pdf
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Fwd: CFPs Study Day on Computer Simulation of Musical Creativity - Reminder
TOPICS
Submissions can cover both theoretical and/or practical aspects of computer simulation of musical creativity. Interdisciplinary proposals at the intersection of music, computer science, psychology and philosophy are warmly invited. Topics of interest may include, but are not limited to:
Computer simulation
- systems capable of creating musical pieces and sounds;
- systems capable of performing music;
- systems capable of online improvisation;
- simulation of music societies;
- robot-based systems;
- systems that enhance the creativity of human users;
- computational aesthetics, emotional response, novelty/originalty;
Theory
- surveys of the state-of-the-art techniques in the area;
- validation methodologies;
- philosophical foundations of music creative systems;
- evolutionary-based models for music creative systems;
- cognitive-based models for music creative systems;
- studies on applicability of techniques to other areas such as story generation and visual art generation;
- new models for improving music creative systems.
TYPES OF SUBMISSIONS
We accept proposals for papers, posters and workshops. Papers have a maximum duration of 20 minutes, with 10 minutes for Q&A. Posters should be used to present research projects in an initial phase. Workshops are 45 minutes long sessions, focused on practical demonstrations and tutorials of new systems and technologies related to musical creativity.
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
We welcome abstracts of no more than 300 words for papers and posters, and 500 words for workshops. Abstracts should include type of submission, AV requirements and any other special requests. The review process is managed through EasyChair. To submit an abstract, please go to the submission page (http://goo.gl/FqACkr) and follow the instructions provided by EasyChair.
Presenters will be advised as to the outcome of their submission by May. For more details about the Study Day, please visit the conference website (http://goo.gl/IyxP17). If you have any enquiries, contact Valerio Velardo (valerio.velardo@hud.ac.uk).
This transmission is confidential and may be legally privileged. If you receive it in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and remove it from your system. If the content of this e-mail does not relate to the business of the University of Huddersfield, then we do not endorse it and will accept no liability.
Use the arts to boost the nation's health
Use the arts to boost the nation’s health
- The Observer, Sunday 28 December 2014
There’s a growing understanding that we cannot afford our health service as it’s currently constituted. A rising birth rate increases demand while every technological or pharmaceutical breakthrough spells a new waiting list. A rapidly increasing elderly population puts a strain on acute services and social care alike. And at the sharp end, visits to many GP surgeries and A&E departments have doubled in a decade, with patients routinely demanding antibiotics and anti-depressants.
The new chief executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens, set out last month how much more money the service will need just to stand still. Significantly, Stevens also pointed out that we spend more on curing obesity than preventing it. The implication is clear: we urgently need to explore new ways to promote wellbeing – a theme picked up by John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health in his essay for the Arts Council’s recent publication, Create. He wrote: “Unhealthy people cost the taxpayer much more than investing in the kinds of activities, facilities and public environments that help prevent or ameliorate illness.” As it happens, quietly and with increasing effectiveness, medics and carers, health authorities and local councils alike are turning to the arts as one way to help boost the wellbeing of the nation. This is about prevention rather than cure. And, as ever with the arts and culture, it’s about enriching lives, too.
In Cornwall, the Baring Foundation and Arts Council England are funding everything from theatre and textiles to dance or drama in care homes. The director of arts for Health Cornwall, Jayne Howard, says: “Creative engagement for older people has been linked to greater mobility, greater social interaction, stronger appetite and a generally better quality of life.”
In Liverpool, local museums have developed House of Memories, an inspiring history project to help dementia sufferers capture and savour their past. And the South Staffordshire and Shropshire NHS Foundation Trust is promoting professionally led singing for people with Alzheimer’s. The Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust has partnered with the Birmingham Rep to create the Bedlam Festival of Ideas, involving those with mental health problems in drama and comedy. Walsall council is funding poetry and photography activities in a local hospice. In Kent, the Sidney de Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health has pioneered singing classes for people with respiratory conditions, carefully collecting the evidence of the results. In London, English National Ballet has run a number of programmes with their expert teams, among them is Dance for Parkinson’s, helping researchers investigating treatments for the condition. I’ve visited classes for people wanting to get fit at Dance East in Ipswich, and Dance Cheshire which runs dance and music classes for severely disabled adults in Chester (“Their best moment of the week,” a carer told me). You get the picture.
Some are now referring to this development as “social prescribing”. That may sound somewhat clinical. Perhaps the more elevated way to put it is that we should tend to the spirit as well as the body, and the arts can do both. I have sat recently with the national leaders of health organisations and this is now being taken very seriously. It will feature in future health policy because this is the direction we’re forced to go in. But it happens to be a good direction, socially and economically. Of course, there’s nothing new about the deployment of therapeutic remedies. But what is new is the widespread involvement of arts professionals in formal agreements with health authorities.
In Gloucestershire, Art-Lift is now funded by the local NHS, not the Arts Council. GPs can “prescribe” drama, music or painting to the patients attending their surgeries. One doctor told me, with a wry smile, that there is already better evidence for their efficacy than there ever was for Prozac. Again, in Cambridgeshire, Arts and Minds allows health professionals to refer clients direct to art workshops. University College, London has developed a three-year scheme actually called Museums on Prescription, which is being trialled in the south-east. It connects isolated, vulnerable older people to their local heritage; that is, to their own personal culture.
And there’s now an initiative called Books on Prescription, available across England. Books are recommended by doctors or other health professionals to support patients with particular conditions. In its first year it has reached 275,000 people providing an important source of help, particularly for those with mental health problems. .
If social prescribing is to be more widely and systematically adopted it needs to be seen to work. It needs to demonstrate it can reduce queues in GP’s surgeries and A&E and relieve hard-pressed mental health services and social care. All health spending is quite rightly subject to rigorous evidence testing. But one estimate of the effect of the projects already underway suggests that savings to the NHS alone could have exceeded half a billion pounds. Arts Council England will be funding more research into arts and health next year. And a new organisation, Aesop (Arts Enterprise with a Social Purpose), has been set up to pursue further projects with the requisite evidence bases. Their first is to investigate how dance exercise can help reduce falls among older people. Its founder, Tim Joss, stresses two key things: the evidence must be good and the art must be excellent.
What else needs to happen? In the debate about the NHS running up to the next election let’s make sure the case for arts and wellbeing is heard. There’s also much work to be done helping arts organisations and health authorities speak the same language. To that end the National Council for Voluntary Organisations is being funded by the Arts Council to help artists to secure health commissions, with training and online resources.
Medicine attends to the body, but the arts cares for the person. It’s clear that the health service now has to put greater resources into prevention. But this is a wholly beneficial imperative. The national and local government spend on arts and culture is around one 50th of the NHS budget. But it’s a small sum that does a lot of good. Not least for health and well being.
Sir Peter Bazalgette is chair, Arts Council, England. CREATE – perspectives on the value of arts and culture – is available at www.artscouncil.org.uk/create
Monday, January 12, 2015
Fwd: FW: SIG notice: Bloomsbury Research Studentship
Applications are invited for an intercollegiate Bloomsbury Colleges Research Studentship which will be awarded for PhD research for 3 years, to begin in October 2015. The Studentship will cover fees and expenses, and will be held in the Department of Music, SOAS. The successful applicant will work on the following interdisciplinary project:
Schema Acquisition in Indian Music: Learning to Compose and Improvise in an Oral Tradition
Principal Supervisor: Professor Richard Widdess (SOAS)
Co-Supervisor: Professor Susan Hallam (Institute of Education)
This studentship is only open to Home/EU applicants. For further details, go to:
http://www.bloomsbury.ac.uk/studentships/studentships-2015/widdesshallam
http://www.bloomsbury.ac.uk/studentships
Please contact Richard Widdess in case of any queries (rw4@soas.ac.uk<mailto:rw4@soas.ac.uk>).
The UCL Institute of Education: Number 1 worldwide for Education, 2014 QS World University Rankings www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe
Friday, January 9, 2015
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Fwd: Reminder - CfP for CMMR 2015, Plymouth UK
(With apologies for cross posting)
This is a reminder that the call for participation is currently open for CMMR 2015.
*Important dates: *
Paper submission deadline February 27th 2015
Music submission deadline February 27th 2015
Notification of acceptance March 27th 2015
Revisions and camera ready copy deadline May 1st 2015
*Keynote speakers*
Hugues Vinet (IRCAM)
David Rosenboom (CalArts)
Eduardo Miranda (ICCMR)
The 11th International Symposium on Computer Music Multidisciplinary Research (CMMR) Music, Mind, and Embodiment will take place in Plymouth, UK on 16-19 June 2015.
Plymouth is a vibrant ocean city with a global history which stretches back hundreds of years. The symposium will include a series of concerts, a satellite workshop on Music Neurotechnology, and an unforgettable boat cruise and banquet trip around the iconic Plymouth Hoe from the Barbican
Harbour, site of the Mayflower Steps (portrayed in the logo above), from which the Pilgrim Fathers left England to settle in North America in 1620.
The Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR) is hosting the symposium on campus in the center of Plymouth, in their newly completed multi-million pound headquarters, "The House", which includes a multichannel diffusion suite and full scale auditorium for concert
performances.
*Music, Mind, and Embodiment*
This year, we encourage the submission of contributions on the theme of Music, Mind, and Embodiment. The notion of mind and embodiment is important in any field related to sound and music and is therefore well adapted to this interdisciplinary conference, since it can be studied from different standpoints spanning from physics to perceptual and cognitive considerations, and from scientific to artistic approaches.
Some central questions of interest in this context are (but not necessarily restricted to) :
How to identify perceptually relevant signal properties linked to music (for example, neurophysiologically or biologically influenced music creation, performance, or analysis?)
How to define new timbre descriptors that characterise perceptual or emotional characteristics?
What is the link between mind and embodiment in musical performance, interpretation, and improvisation?
How can gesture and embodiment be used as a control signal for music generation, sonification, and performance?
How can multiple modalities be characterised in interdisciplinary musical contexts (vision, audition, kinesthetic, bio- and neuro- informed approaches)?
Contributions on other topics as described in the call for contributions are also welcome. Submission deadline is February 27th 2015.
For further details please visit:
http://cmr.soc.plymouth.ac.uk/cmmr2015/
*Satellite workshops*
1st International Workshop in Brain-Computer Music Interfacing - http://cmr.soc.plymouth.ac.uk/bcmi2015/
New: Motion and Music Workshop - http://cmr.soc.plymouth.ac.uk/mocap2015/
Please send any enquiries to:
cmmr2015-chairs@plymouth.ac.uk
We look forward to seeing you,
Prof Eduardo R Miranda (conference chair)
Joel Eaton (programme committee)
Dr Duncan Williams (music committee)
Fwd: 2015 Summer Vocology Institute Applications
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Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Fwd: Postdoc in Cognitive Music Theory Pedagogy at Bates College, Lewiston, Maine
Bates College, Faculty Position, Music
Music Postdoctoral Fellowship R2083
Location: Lewiston, Maine
the link to apply via Interfolio is http://apply.interfolio.com/28101
The Department of Music, Bates College, in Lewiston, Maine, invites applications for a two year postdoctoral fellow for pedagogical innovation and curriculum renewal in the humanities funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The fellowship begins August 1, 2015 and concludes July 31, 2017. The ideal candidate will have combined strengths in music theory, psychology of music, and pedagogy and will assist the department in the innovative redesign of our four semester theory sequence.
Over the two-year period, the successful applicant will teach five music courses within the context of a highly integrated liberal-arts program of composition, performance, theory, ethnomusicology, and historical musicology. The candidate will teach three courses in 2015-2016 (one each in the fall and winter semesters and one in the five-week spring term), and two courses in 2016-2017 (one each in the fall and winter semesters), including core courses in our music theory curriculum, and at least one new course in the specialization of the candidate. We seek applicants whose teaching and research bridges musical skills and methodologies (from among theoretical, experimental, and fieldwork-based research, composition, and performance) and who can help us raise the cognitive component of our music theory course sequence. The halftime teaching load provides release time to help balance research and teaching. Funds for travel to conferences are also available. A completed doctorate in music cognition, composition, music theory, or a related field of music scholarship is expected, along with a serious commitment to professional achievement as a scholar.
Applicants should submit the following materials: a letter of application and a complete dossier, including a C.V., writing sample, teaching statement, and three letters of recommendation. Consideration of applications will begin on January 15 and continue until the position is filled. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
Bates is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. For more information about the college, please visit the Bates website: www.bates.edu
Qualifications
A completed doctorate in music cognition, composition, music theory, or a related field of music scholarship is expected, along with a serious commitment to professional achievement as a scholar.
Application Instructions
Applicants should submit the following materials: a letter of application and a complete dossier, including a C.V., writing sample, teaching statement, and three letters of recommendation. Consideration of applications will begin on January 15 and continue until the position is filled.
Apply via Interfolio http://apply.interfolio.com/28101
Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
Bates College is committed to the principle of equal opportunity and providing an educational and work environment free from discrimination. The college prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status and other legally protected statuses in the recruitment and admission of its students, in the administration of its education policies and programs, or in the recruitment of its faculty and staff. Bates College adheres to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity laws and regulations. All college faculty, staff, students, contractors, visitors, and volunteers are responsible for understanding and complying with the Non-Discrimination Policy.
Inquiries concerning the college’s policies, compliance with applicable laws, statutes, and regulations (such as Title VII, Title IX, and ADA/Section 504), and complaints may be directed to the Assistant Vice President of Human Resources, Mary Main, at 207-786-8388 or mmain@bates.edu.
Singing From the Same Hymn Sheet? The Role of Choirs and Collective Belonging
Singing From the Same Hymn Sheet? The Role of Choirs and
Collective Belonging
Weeks Centre for Social and Policy Research Symposium
30th January 2015, Clarence Centre, London South Bank University
10am-6pm
Free Event, Lunch and refreshments provided, All welcome, Register by contacting Dr Emily Falconer falconee@lsbu.ac.uk
Symposium Programme
9.30am: Arrival, Tea, Coffee, Pastries
10-10.15am Dr Emily Falconer (Weeks Centre for Social and Policy Research), Welcome and
Introduction
10.15- 12.30pm Panel Session One (Chair and respondent: Dr Kerry Baker, Weeks Centre for Social and Policy Research)
Dr Emily Falconer and Professor Yvette Taylor (Weeks Centre for Social and Policy Research)
Sounding Religious, Sounding Queer: The role of choirs for queer identifying religious youth
Ambrose Hogan (Institute of Education) Changes in Catholic practice: singing, repertoire, diversity and belonging
Friedlind Riedel (University of Gottingen) Divine Deviance: Atmospheres of Congregational
Worship
Rev Professor June Boyce-Tillman (University of Winchester) Choral improvisation and community creation - Giving difference dignity
Dr Laryssa Whittaker (Royal Holloway) Congregational singing in the ‘Rainbow nation’:
Music and cultural integration in a post-apartheid South African Church
Professor David Gilbert and Natalie Hyacinth (Royal Holloway) Music, singing and creativity in suburban faith communities
12.30pm-1.30pm Lunch and breakout discussions
1.30pm-4.00 Panel Session Two (Chair and respondent: Dr Yvonne Robinson, Weeks
Centre for Social and Policy research)
Rebecca Bramall (University of Brighton) Sing while you work: the ‘rise of the choir’ in
austerity
Dr Kelvin Mason and Dr Peter North (University of Liverpool) Dr Gavin Brown (University of Leicester); Lotte Reimer and Jenny Patient (Campaign Choirs) Singing for our lives: The future life-histories of the street choirs
Dr Gavin Brown (University of Leicester) Rousing Solidarity: the practices of choral singing in
British anti-apartheid protests
Dr Eiluned Pearce (University of Oxford) Singing Together: Uncovering evolved mechanisms for community cohesion
Dr Caroline Bithell (University of Manchester) Community Choirs Go Viral: Reclaiming
Community through the Natural Voice and World Song
Professor Stephen Clift (Canterbury Christ Church University) Singing for health and wellbeing: theoretical perspectives and research evidence
Mark Porter (City University) In perfect harmony? Models of cohesion and divergence in musical collectives
4.00-4.15 Break
4.15- 5.30 Panel Session three (Chair and Respondent: Jill Wilkens, Weeks Centre for
Social and Policy Research)
Dominic Stichbury (Musical Director and Choir leader, Chaps Choir, London UK) Blokes or
Chaps? Masculinity, class and power dynamics in all-male choirs in London
Diana Parkinson (Middlesex University) How gender affects community singing
Shilpa Shah (Musical director and Choir leader, My Hearts Sings, London UK) Women’s
Choirs: race, feminism and intersectionality
Anna Bull (Goldsmiths) The construction and experience of the gendered authority of the conductor in elite youth choirs in England.
Professor Graham Welch (Institute of Education) Singing Cities: Boys, gender and social inclusion
5.30-6pm Singing ‘taster’ workshop: Dominic Stichbury
6pm Wine reception and video performance from the Chaps Choir, London, UK
This Symposium is a free event as part of the Weeks Centre for Social and Policy Research
To attend, you must register by emailing Dr Emily Falconer, falconee@lsbu.ac.uk
Chaps Choir, Photo by Paul Hudson