Exploring the Role of Identity in Creating a Life with Music
Tuesday 21st November 2023, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
This session will explore the ways in which our identification with music influences the modes and impact of musical participation throughout the lifespan. The paper will draw on data from a series of studies with amateur and aspiring/established professional musicians in order to examine the extent to which musical identity interacts with psychological and environmental factors to influence the roles that people choose for music to play throughout their lives.
We will think about the implications of such insights for music education: how can conversations about musical calling and connection to music support students to make decisions about the role of music in their future working lives; how can such discussions help students to lead healthy lives with music, particularly given the precarious and rapidly changing nature of work in music (which has been heightened by socio-political responses to recent world events); and how can knowing about our music identities help us to navigate planned/unplanned transitions successfully and healthily?
This session will combine discussion of emerging research literature in this area, and provide a space for us to think together about what this means for us as musicians, educators, students (and the myriad other identities we all hold!).
Professor Karen Burland
Karen Burland is Professor of Applied Music Psychology at the University of Leeds and is currently the faculty and university academic lead for work relating to employability and student futures.

Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.
Learn MoreSorry, this is an archived short course...
We have plenty of upcoming short courses coming soon. See details of some of them below or look at the full list of short courses.

Thursday 1st May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 8th May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 15th May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 22nd May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 29th May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Trauma-Informed Voice Professional Certificate with Dr Elisa Monti

Dr Elisa Monti
This five-part certificate course is designed to help participants learn the theory and practice of trauma-informed approaches. The concepts and activities included are tailored to meet the needs of voice specialists who want to acquire more specific tools to navigate the space with their students and colleagues.


Tuesday 6th May 2025
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
(London Time)
Mindfulness and Voice: Exploring the Intersection through Peer-Reviewed Literature

Catherine Brown
Despite strong interest, only a handful of peer-reviewed studies have examined the relationship between mindfulness and voice. Emerging research indicates that mindfulness can help voice users learn to respond to stress more effectively and may help them manage performance anxiety. In this course, we will examine several types of peer-reviewed literature: a) mindfulness studies that indirectly relate to voice work. b) We will review research that examines mindfulness as it relates to voice-adjacent fields (e.g., music performance anxiety and stammering/stuttering). c) We will look at the few published studies that have directly investigated the relationship between mindfulness and voice and d) we will examine directions for future qualitative and quantitative research.

Tuesday 6th May 2025
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday 7th May 2025
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Friday 9th May 2025
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
(London Time)
Acceptance & Commitment Coaching for Beginners: An Overview and Guide for Using it to Address Common Performance-Related Problems of a Psychological Nature (3-part course)

Dr David Juncos
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Coaching (ACT) is an empirically-supported psychotherapy & coaching intervention for a variety of common issues facing student and professional musicians from across the world. Some of these include performance anxiety, perfectionism & self-criticism, procrastination, and work-related stress & burnout.