Online Research Symposium: Singing, Wellbeing and Social Inclusion
Friday 24th September 2021, 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM (London Time)
The Voice Study Centre and De Montfort University’s Mary Seacole Research Centre are delighted to announce their next online symposium on Singing, Wellbeing and Social Inclusion on 24 September 2021 between 9am and 12:30pm (BST).
The symposium will be held on Zoom and is free of charge.
Programme:
9:00 Welcome with Prof Raghu Ragavan (Mary Seacole Research Centre, De Montfort University) and Debbie Winter (Voice Study Centre)
9:15 Prof Johann van der Sandt, University of Bozen/Bolzano, Italy
Musical Habits and Wellbeing of adolescent choir singers in Italy, Austria and Finland during Covid-19 Lockdowns
9:45 Dr Sanna Salminen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Benefits of Singing reflected in the conceptual framework of social inclusion
10:15 Celi Barberia, Sing Up Foundation, UK
Sing Up: Children and Young People and the benefits of singing
10:45 Emily Foulkes, Singing for Health Network and Voice Study Centre, UK
Singing for Health
11:15 Dr Motje Wolf, De Montfort University and Voice Study Centre, UK
The Effect of Covid-19 Lockdowns on Performer Identities of Professional Singers in the UK
11:45 Plenary
12:15 Good-bye
Dr Motje Wolf
Dr Motje Wolf was awarded a PhD in Music Education from De Montfort University Leicester (UK) and an MA from the University of Leipzig (Germany) in Musicology and Dramatics. Her research focuses on vocal pedagogy, epistemology and pedagogic knowledge exchange.
Emily Foulkes
Emily gained a Distinction in her Master’s in Voice Pedagogy, specialising in Singing for Mental Health, Pain Management, and Trauma-Informed Practice...
Johann van der Sandt
Johann van der Sandt completed his studies at the University of Pretoria, and his choral conducting at the Institute of Choral Conducting in Gorinchem, Netherlands. He is a sought after juror, composer and choral clinician.
Dr Sanna Salminen
Dr Sanna Salminen is an acknowledged music educator in her home country. She works as a university teacher in Music Pedagogy under the Department of Education at the University of Jyväskylä.
Celi Barberia
Celi Barberia has been working in music education for over 15 years, through fundraising and policy roles at Youth Music and then communications and marketing roles at Sing Up and has had a lifelong passion for the arts, education and working in charities.
Sorry, 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
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Thursday 8th May 2025
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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
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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
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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
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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.