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.

Tuesday 5th August 2025
1:00 PM - 12:00 PM
Tuesday 12th August 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday 19th August 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday 26th August 2025
1:00 PM - 12:00 PM
Tuesday 2nd September 2025
1:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Tuesday 9th September 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday 16th September 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday 23rd September 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
(London Time)
Certificate in Acting Approaches for Singing Teachers

Louisa Morgan
Are you a singing teacher looking to elevate your students’ performances? Join our very own Louisa Morgan, as she takes a deeper dive into acting approaches that singing teachers can use to integrate powerful acting techniques into singing lessons. This 8 session course is perfect for those who want to help their singers connect deeply with the story behind the song. Gain practical tools and techniques that you can immediately apply in your teaching! Come along live for an interactive experience, or watch on playback at your leisure.


Tuesday 23rd September 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)
How to Put the Perceptible Breath at a Singer's Disposal

Tanya Aspelmeier
Join the renowned Tanya Aspelmeier in this breath-related workshop specifically designed for the singer and singing teachers. Participants will learn exercises based on Professor Ilse Middendorf's therapeutic breathing method "The Perceptible Breath". This somatic discipline trains a person’s skills of perception to learn about their individual breath, body and nervous system and how they can regulate it by harnessing their own mental powers.

Wednesday 24th September 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 25th September 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Mitigating Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) Within the Teaching Studio: Theories & Practical Strategies

Dr David Juncos
In recent years, an alternative model for treating MPA has shown great promise among practitioners - training music teachers to use interventions from evidence-based coaching models aimed to treat MPA, rather than continually referring students with MPA to receive psychotherapy like CBT.