Professor Stephanie Pitts (she/her)
BA, MEd, PhD, PGCE, FHEA
School of Languages, Arts and Societies
Professor of Music Education
Director of Sheffield Performer and Audience Research Centre
Full contact details
School of Languages, Arts and Societies
1.14
Jessop Building
Leavygreave Road
Sheffield
S3 7RD
- Profile
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My research and teaching is in the areas of music education and the social psychology of music. I am interested in how and why people participate in music, whether as audience members at a jazz club or chamber music festival, amateur performers in an orchestra, or lifelong learners pursuing a musical activity into retirement. I have used mainly qualitative methods of interviews, surveys, diaries and ethnography to collaborate with musical organisations including Making Music, Music in the Round, and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group to answer the underlying question, “If making music is so rewarding for those who do it, why isn’t everyone taking part?” That question leads me into considering approaches to music education, inequalities in access to the arts, and the influences of families, schools and social environments on musical attitudes and experiences.
I am the Director of the Sheffield Performer and Audience Research Centre (SPARC) and with my research collaborators and PhD students have undertaken research funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, (AHRC) including a major project across five UK cities on ‘Understanding Audiences for the Contemporary Arts’. I recently held an AHRC Research Network grant investigating classical music networks in UK and European cities, in collaboration with colleagues in Maastricht and Groningen. I am currently co-writing a book from that project, to join others that I have written on music education, audience engagement and musical participation.
I teach on our MA Psychology of Music as well as leading undergraduate modules on music in everyday life, and community music and education. I was Head of Music from 2015-18, and have also held leadership roles in recruitment, student learning and teaching, and postgraduate research. I enjoy international connections with the University of Queensland, where I am an Honorary Professor; Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen, where I was an advisor to the Experimental Concert Research project; and the Maastricht Centre for the Innovation of Classical Music. I was an Associate Director of the Centre for Cultural Value (2019-24) and am a member of the College of Experts for the UK Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
- Qualifications
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PhD in Music (Sheffield)
MEd in Learning and Teaching for Higher Education (Sheffield)
BA (Hons) in Music (York)
PGCE (Secondary Music) (Open University)
- Research interests
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My current research projects relate to my interests in how people access and sustain musical opportunities, particularly in classical music in the UK:
- AHRC Research Network (2023-24): Networked Innovation in Classical Music: Collaborative Ecologies in Creative Cities. This network was co-directed by Prof Peter Peters (Maastricht) and ran in five UK cities and two in Europe, leading to an arts sector handbook and a book currently in preparation for Cambridge University Press.- Reflecting on Lifetime Music Experiences: A collaboration with Katie Overy (Edinburgh) and Judith Okely (Edinburgh Napier) on a large-scale survey of over-60 year olds reflecting on their lifetime musical involvement, its highlights and lulls, and its contribution to their lives. We have written one journal article so far about music and positive ageing, and there is a great deal more in the 327 survey responses to explore.
- Relationships between amateur and professional musical worlds: Several of my PhD students are exploring aspects of professional musical cultures (Tom Spurgin with Manchester Collective), and community music-making groups (Jenn Fuller and Valerie Wong with amateur orchestras; Emily Crossland with community Gamelan groups), and I’m increasingly intrigued by the relationships and tensions between the different layers of classical music-making in the UK, and how these are experienced by participants and audience members.
- Singing for learning, wellbeing and community: Several more PhD students (Emily Lowe and Emily Cooper) are researching aspects of singing and identity, which connect to some SPARC Consultancy work that I undertook with Peterborough Sings!, resulting in two journal articles co-authored with my former PhD student, Dr Elizabeth MacGregor. I’m interested in how their research questions connect with the findings of my research network, where pathways to fulfilling singing opportunities in adulthood were not always clear, and hold potential for greater collaboration between universities and their localities.
- Publications
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Books
- Understanding Audience Engagement in the Contemporary Arts. Abingdon: Routledge.
- Coughing and Clapping: Investigating Audience Experience.
- Valuing musical participation.
- Chances and Choices:Exploring the Impact of Music Education. Oxford University Press.
- Chances and Choices. Oxford University Press.
- Becoming a Successful Early Career Researcher. Routledge.
- Music and mind in everyday life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Valuing Musical Participation: Case Studies of Music Identity and Belonging. Ashgate Publishing Limited.
- A century of change in music education : historical perspectives on contemporary practice in British secondary school music. Ashgate Publishing Limited.
- Valuing Musical Participation. Routledge.
Edited books
- Coughing and Clapping: Investigating Audience Experience. Farnham: Ashgate.
- Sound Teaching: A research-informed approach to inspiring confidence, skill, and enjoyment in music performance. Routledge.
Journal articles
- ‘I don’t care who joins my choir’: Investigating attitudes to diversity and inclusivity in lower- and upper-voice choirs in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Community Music, 18(1), 69-91. View this article in WRRO
- Joining alone: factors that influence the musical participation of young adults after leaving school. British Journal of Music Education. View this article in WRRO
- Towards effective performance psychology interventions in tertiary music education: an exploration of students’ experiences, attitudes, and preferences. Psychology of Music, 52(4). View this article in WRRO
- ‘Just notes’: Young musicians’ perspectives on learning expressive performance. Research Studies in Music Education, 43(3), 451-464. View this article in WRRO
- When the music stops: the effects of lockdown on amateur music groups. Journal of Music, Health and Wellbeing(Special issue). View this article in WRRO
- Perfectionistic self-presentation and emotional experiences in music students: A three-wave longitudinal study. Psychology of Music, 48(6), 766-776. View this article in WRRO
- Understanding the liminality of individual giving to the arts. Arts and the Market, 10(1), 18-33. View this article in WRRO
- Leisure-time music groups and their localities: exploring the commercial, educational and reciprocal relationships of amateur music-making. Music and Letters, 101(1), 120-134. View this article in WRRO
- Spontaneity and planning in arts attendance : insights from qualitative interviews and the Audience Finder database. Cultural Trends, 28(2-3), 220-238.
- Adolescent perceptions of singing: exploring gendered differences in musical confidence, identity and ambition. Music Education Research, 21(1), 40-51. View this article in WRRO
- 'Audience exchange': cultivating peer-to-peer dialogue at unfamiliar arts events. Arts and the Market, 7(1), 65-79. View this article in WRRO
- What is music education for? Understanding and fostering routes into lifelong musical engagement. Music Education Research, 19(2), 160-168. View this article in WRRO
- (Un)popular music and young audiences: Exploring the classical chamber music concert from the perspective of young adult listeners. Journal of Popular Music Education, 1(1), 43-62. View this article in WRRO
- Dropping in and dropping out: experiences of sustaining and ceasing amateur participation in classical music. British Journal of Music Education, 33(3), 327-346. View this article in WRRO
- Music, Language and Learning: Investigating the Impact of a Music Workshop Project in Four English Early Years Settings. International Journal of Education and the Arts, 17(20), 1-26. View this article in WRRO
- Audiences for the contemporary arts: Exploring varieties of participation across art forms in Birmingham, UK. Participations, 13(1), 4-23. View this article in WRRO
- On the edge of their seats: Comparing first impressions and regular attendance in arts audiences. Psychology of Music. View this article in WRRO
- Learner-led and boundary free: learning across contexts. Learning Beyond the Classroom: British Journal of Educational Psychology Monograph Series II(11), 39-49. View this article in WRRO
- Not playing any more: A qualitative investigation of why amateur musicians cease or continue membership of performing ensembles. International Journal of Community Music, 8(2), 129-147. View this article in WRRO
- Exploring musical expectations: Understanding the impact of a year-long primary school music project in the context of school, home and prior learning. Research Studies in Music Education, 36(2), 129-146. View this article in WRRO
- "Caught between a scream and a hug": Women's perspectives on music listening and interaction with teenagers in the family unit. Psychology of Music, 43(5), 611-626. View this article in WRRO
- Views of an audience: understanding the orchestral concert experience from player and listener perspectives. Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies, 10(2), 65-95. View this article in WRRO
- Listening to live jazz: an individual or social act?. Arts Marketing.
- Would you credit it? Navigating the transitions between curricular and extra-curricular learning in university music departments. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 12(2-3), 194-203.
- Rules and expectations of jazz gigs. Social Semiotics, 22(5), 523-543.
- Tribute to John Paynter. British Journal of Music Education, 28(01), 32-33.
- Classical cult or learning community? Exploring new audience members' social and musical responses to first-time concert attendance. Ethnomusicology Forum, 20(3), 353-383.
- Understanding Jazz Audiences: Listening and Learning at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. J NEW MUSIC RES, 39(2), 125-134.
- Understanding Audience Experience: Editorial. J NEW MUSIC RES, 39(2), 109-110.
- Roots and routes in adult musical participation: investigating the impact of home and school on lifelong musical interest and involvement. British Journal of Music Education, 26(3), 241-256.
- The British Journal of Music Education 2003-2007: an editorial retrospective. British Journal of Music Education, 25(3), 253-265.
- Monitoring musical progress: approaches from the UK. Zeitschrift für Kritische Musikpädagogik, 125-129.
- Extra-curricular music in UK schools: Investigating the aims, experiences, and impact of adolescent musical participation. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 9(10).
- Editorial. British Journal of Music Education, 24(3), 249-250.
- Becoming a Music Student Investigating the skills and attitudes of students beginning a Music degree. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 6(3), 289-308.
- Editorial. British Journal of Music Education, 24(2), 133-134.
- Anything Goes: A case study of extra-curricular musical participation in an English secondary school, 9(1), 145-165.
- Loyalty and longevity in audience listening: investigating experiences of attendance at a chamber music festival. Music and Letters, 89(2), 227-238.
- The British Barbershopper: A Study in Socio-Musical Values. By Liz Garnett. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005. 214 pp. ISBN: 0 7546 3559 7. Popular Music, 25(2), 336-338.
- ‘Testing, testing...’. Active Learning in Higher Education, 6(3), 218-229.
- What makes an audience? Investigating the roles and experiences of listeners at a chamber music festival. Music and Letters, 86(2), 257-269.
- Twenty-nine world premiers in two hours: The story of powerplus. International Journal of Education and the Arts, 6, 1-19.
- ‘Everybody wants to be Pavarotti’: The Experience of Music for Performers and Audience at a Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 129(1), 143-160.
- 'Everybody wants to be Pavarotti': The experience of music for performers and audience at a Gilbert and Sullivan festival. J ROY MUSIC ASSN, 129, 143-160.
- What do students learn when we teach music?: An investigation of the 'hidden' curriculum in a university music department. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 2(3), 281-292.
- Musical Identities edited by R. MacDonald, D. Hargreaves & D. Miell. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. 250 pp, £24.50, paperback.. British Journal of Music Education, 20(1), 101-115.
- Issues in Music Teaching by C. Philpott and C. Plummeridge (Eds). London: Routledge Falmer, 2001. 258 pp, £15.99 paperback.. British Journal of Music Education, 19(1), 103-114.
- Changing tunes: musical experience and self-perception amongst school and university music students. MUSIC SCI, 6(1), 73-92.
- Whose aesthetics? Public, professional and pupil perceptions of music education. Research Studies in Music Education, 17(1), 54-60.
- ‘People have talents’: a case study of musical behaviour in an adoptive family. British Journal of Music Education, 18(2), 161-171.
- Reconciling technical and expressive elements in musical instrument teaching: Working with children. J AESTHET EDUC, 35(3), 51-62.
- Supporting Musical Development in the Primary School: An English Perspective on Band Programmes in Sydney, NSW. Research Studies in Music Education, 14(1), 76-84.
- Reasons to teach music: establishing a place in the contemporary curriculum. British Journal of Music Education, 17(1), 32-42. View this article in WRRO
- Songs in their heads: Music and its meaning in children's lives. WORLD MUSIC, 42(2), 156-158.
- Models of success and failure in instrumental learning: Case studies of young players in the first 20 months of learning. B COUN RES MUSIC ED(146), 51-69.
- Looking for Inspiration: Recapturing an Enthusiasm for Music Education from Innovatory Writings. British Journal of Music Education, 15(1), 25-36.
- The Implications of Historical Research for Contemporary Music Education Practice in England. Arts Education Policy Review, 100(2), 26-31.
- Investigating amateur choirs in the United Kingdom as sites of musical learning and ambition. International Journal of Music Education. View this article in WRRO
Book chapters
- Weariness, adaptability and challenging 'viability': Creative freelancers and pandemic resilience in South Yorkshire, Adaptation and Resilience in the Performing Arts the Pandemic and Beyond (pp. 93-113).
- Weariness, adaptability and challenging ‘viability’, Adaptation and resilience in the performing arts Manchester University Press
- Becoming a classical musician of the future the effects of training and experience on performer attitudes to innovation, Classical Music Futures Practices of Innovation (pp. 103-125).
- 6. Becoming a Classical Musician of the Future, Classical Music Futures (pp. 103-126). Open Book Publishers
- Spontaneity and Planning in Arts Attendance: Insights from Qualitative Interviews and the Audience Finder Database, A Reader on Audience Development and Cultural Policy (pp. 99-118). Routledge
- Spontaneity and planning in arts attendance: insights from qualitative interviews and the Audience Finder database, Audience Data and Research (pp. 140-158). Routledge
- Audience Experience and Contemporary Classical Music, AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE AND CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC (pp. XIV-+).
- The benefits and challenges of large-scale qualitative research, Routledge Companion to Audiences and the Performing Arts (pp. 343-354). Routledge
- A research-informed approach to vocal and instrumental music learning and teaching Introduction, SOUND TEACHING (pp. 1-9).
- Introduction : a research-informed approach to vocal and instrumental music learning and teaching In Meissner H, Timmers R & Pitts S (Ed.), Sound Teaching: A research-informed approach to inspiring confidence, skill, and enjoyment in music performance (pp. 1-10). Routledge (Taylor & Francis) View this article in WRRO
- Introduction, Sound Teaching (pp. 1-9). Routledge
- Reflections on implications for sound teaching, lifelong music learning, and future research, Sound Teaching (pp. 132-140). Routledge
- Who goes to the contemporary arts? Introduction, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 1-12).
- Understanding audiences Research methods and approaches, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 13-34).
- Uncomfortable questions in contemporary arts practice and research The formaldehyde shark in the room, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 179-197).
- Routes to engagement in the contemporary arts, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 103-129).
- National survey, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 219-227).
- Making sense of the contemporary arts Programme notes, gallery panels and arts talk, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 153-177).
- Life-history interview schedule from pilot study, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 215-215).
- 'It's okay not to like it' The appeal and frustrations of the contemporary arts, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 131-151).
- Interview schedule from the national study, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 216-218).
- Cities for the arts The importance of place in audience engagement, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 53-77).
- 'But is it art?' Defining the contemporary arts, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 35-52).
- Audience development and the future of the contemporary arts Learning from audiences, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 199-214).
- Art forms, venues and audience decision-making Navigating the cultural ecology, UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS (pp. 79-101).
- Starting a Music Degree at University, The Music Practitioner (pp. 215-224). Routledge
- “The Violin in the Attic”: Investigating the Long-Term Value of Lapsed Musical Participation In Mantie R & Smith GD (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Music Making and Leisure Oxford University Press View this article in WRRO
- Creativity and community in an entrepreneurial undergraduate music module In Haddon E & Burnard P (Ed.), Creative Teaching for Creative Learning in Higher Music Education (pp. 227-239). Abingdon: Routledge. View this article in WRRO
- Interlude - audience members as researchers, Coughing and Clapping Investigating Audience Experience (pp. 53-54).
- Prelude, Coughing and Clapping Investigating Audience Experience (pp. 1-4).
- Interlude - lasting memories of ephemeral events, Coughing and Clapping Investigating Audience Experience (pp. 127-129).
- Postlude, Coughing and Clapping Investigating Audience Experience (pp. 175-179).
- Fostering lifelong engagement in music In McPherson GE (Ed.), The Child as Musician: A Handbook of Musical Development (pp. 639-654). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Musical, social and moral dilemmas: investigating audience motivations to attend concerts In Burland K & Pitts SE (Ed.), Coughing and Clapping: Investigating Audience Experience (pp. 21-33). Oxford, UK: Ashgate. View this article in WRRO
- Coughing and Clapping: Investigating Audience Experience Postlude, COUGHING AND CLAPPING: INVESTIGATING AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE (pp. 175-179).
- Amateurs as audiences: Reciprocal relationships between playing and listening to music, Audience Experience A Critical Analysis of Audiences in the Performing Arts (pp. 83-94).
- Audiences, Music in American Life an Encyclopedia of the Songs Styles Stars and Stories that Shaped Our Culture Volumes 1 4 (pp. 74-79).
- Discovering and affirming musical identity through extracurricular music-making in English secondary schools, Learning Teaching and Musical Identity Voices Across Cultures (pp. 227-238).
- Musical education as a social act: learning from and within musical communities. In Ballantyne J & Bartleet B (Ed.), Navigating Music and Sound Education (pp. 115-128). Cambridge Scholars Publishing
- Champions and aficionados: amateur and listener experiences of the Savoy operas in performance. In Eden D & Saremba M (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Gilbert and Sullivan (pp. 190-200). Cambridge University Press
- Developing effective practice strategies: case studies of three young instrumentalists, Aspects of Teaching Secondary Music (pp. 156-170). Routledge
- “I’d See Anything”: Exploring Private Fandom in Highly Engaged Theatre Audiences In Sedgman K, Coppa F & Hills M (Ed.), THEATRE FANDOM Engaged Audiences in the Twenty-First Century University of Iowa Press
- Experiencing Liveness in Contemporary Performance In Reason M & Lindelof AM (Ed.) Routledge
- Music Beyond School: Learning through Participation, Springer International Handbook of Research in Arts Education (pp. 759-776). Springer Netherlands
Book reviews
- Active Ageing with Music: Supporting Wellbeing in the Third and Fourth Ages by Andrea Creech, Susan Hallam, Maria Varvarigou and Hilary McQueen. London: Institute of Education Press, 2014. 184 pp., paperback. £24.99. ISBN: 9781782770299.. British Journal of Music Education, 32(3), 328-329.
- Collaborative Learning in Higher Music Education edited by Helena Gaunt and Heidi Westerlund . Farnham: Ashgate, 2013. 202 pp., hardback, £60. ISBN: 978-1409446828.. British Journal of Music Education, 31(3), 364-366.
- The Origins and Foundations of Music Education: Cross-Cultural Historical Studies of Music in Compulsory Schooling edited by Gordon Cox & Robin Stevens. London: Continuum, 2010. 256 pp., paperback, £24.99. ISBN: (10) 1441128883, ISBN: (13) 978-1441128881.. British Journal of Music Education, 29(1), 135-137.
- Making Music in Britain: Interviews with those Behind the Notes by Haddon Elizabeth. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006. 240 pp, £47.50 hardback. ISBN 0754638235. British Journal of Music Education, 24(2), 244-245.
- How Popular Musicians Learn. By Lucy Green. Aldershot and Burlington: Ashgate, 2001. 238 pp. ISBN 0-7546-0338-5. Popular Music, 23(2), 237-239.
- Book Reviews. Psychology of Music, 25(1), 95-97.
Conference proceedings
- Understanding audiences: what are concert-goers doing when they listen?. tbc, 6 March 2018 - 7 March 2018.
- Understanding Audience Engagement in the Contemporary Arts. Abingdon: Routledge.
- Research group
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My doctoral students have research interests ranging across music education, social psychology and audience studies, including aspects of instrumental learning, lifelong engagement, and young people's experiences of music in school and society. I have supervised nearly twenty doctoral students to successful completion, many of whom have gone on to secure academic posts.
Current students:
Emily Cooper (Co-supervised with Professor Renee Timmers; WRoCAH scholarship): Facilitating the use of voice for people with respiratory conditions through singing and choir participation
Emily Crossland (Co-supervised with Professor Simon Keegan-Phipps; WRoCAH scholarship): Positioning the practitioner: investigating the balance between cultural heritage and cultural democracy in co-creative community gamelan activity in the UK
Jennifer Fuller (Co-supervised with Dr Jennifer MacRitchie; Grantham Scholar): Inclusive concert programming in leisure-time orchestras
Emily Lowe (Co-supervised with Professor Renee Timmers): Reimagining voice pedagogy for nclusion: a Sheffield-based study of gender, identity and access in singing education
Tessa Sawyer (Co-supervised with Dr Will Mason & Professor Mark Taylor; SMI studentship): Troubling youth voice: young people’s experience of creative music education
Tom Spurgin (Co-supervised with Professor Karen Burland, University of Leeds; WRoCAH Collaborative Doctoral Award): Situating radicality in classical music
Valerie Wong Li Qing (Co-supervised with Dr Julie Ballantyne, University of Queensland): The role of music education in sustaining community music participation
Hongjuan Zhu (Co-supervised with Dr Sarah Watts): The impact of microsystem factors on young people’s music learning: A pathway to flourishing
Completed students:
Emma Risley (2022-26, f/t; WRoCAH scholarship): Eight shows a week: investigating the psychological cost of a musical theatre performance career
Deborah Pullicino (2021-25, p/t; co-supervised with Professor Judy Clegg; TESS scholarship): Education ‘in’ and ‘through’ singing to improve and facilitate the communication skills of autistic children
Elizabeth MacGregor (2019-22, f/t; University of Sheffield scholarship): Musical vulnerability in whole class instrumental teaching
Cassie White (2016-22, p/t; co-supervised with Dr Julie Ballantyne, University of Queensland): Career identities of instrumental music educators in Australia
Gina Emerson (2017-20, f/t; co-supervised with Professor Reinhard Flender, University of Hamburg, Ulysses Network scholarship): Audience experience and contemporary classical music: negotiating the experimental and the accessible in a high art subculture
Claudia Braz Nunes (2015-18, f/t): Musical life histories of Portuguese music educators
Mary Hawkes (2011-19, p/t): Applications of sports psychology for enhancing musical performance
Sarah Price (2013-16, f/t; AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award): Risk and reward in classical music concert attendance: investigating the engagement of 'art' and 'entertainment' audiences with a regional symphony orchestra in the uk
Lucy Dearn (2013-16, f/t; AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award): Music, people and place: entering and negotiating listening communities
Josephine Miller (2011-16, p/t): An ethnographic analysis of participation and agency in a Scottish community-based music project
Teresa Rombo (2012-15, f/t; previously supervised by Tony Bennett): Portuguese music for cello since the beginning of the twentieth century
Michael Bonshor (2009-15, p/t): Confidence and the choral singer: the effects of the choir configuration, collaboration and communication
Melissa Dobson (2006-10, f/t; co-supervised with Professor Chris Spencer; university studentship): Audience enjoyment and experience in classical concerts
Sofia Serra (2008-10, f/t; previously supervised by Professor Jane Davidson; Portuguese government sponsorship): Personality and attachment in singing teacher-student interactions
Tim Robinson (2004-10, p/t; co-supervised with Professor Nicola Dibben): How popular musicians teach
Kate Gee (2005-9, f/t; co-supervised with Professor Chris Spencer): Brass musicians’ careers and identities
Susan Monks (2002-8, p/t): Perceptions of the singing voice and vocal identity
Simone Kruger (2002-6, f/t; co-supervised with Professor Jonathan Stock; AHRC funded): Teaching and learning ethnomusicology in higher education
Daphne Bryan (1999-2004, p/t; co-supervised with Professor Eric Clarke): Student-teacher interaction in the piano lesson
- Grants
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• AHRC funded Research Network (£39K), Networked Innovation in Classical Music (2023-24), with lead academics in five UK and two European cities
• AHRC funded project (£340K), Understanding Audiences for the Contemporary Arts (2015-20), building research partnerships and practitioner networks in Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol and London.
• UKRI funded project (£345K), Responding to and modelling the impact of COVID-19 for Sheffield's cultural ecology (2020-21).
- Teaching interests
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I teach qualitative research methods in undergraduate modules on music in everyday life, and on our MA Psychology of Music.
- Teaching activities
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Community, Music and Education
Music Psychology in Everyday Life
Applied Music Psychology
Qualitative Research Methods
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Former Editor (2002-7) of international peer-reviewed journal, British Journal of Music Education, and book review editor for the same journal (2007-11).
- Editorial Board member of Teaching in Higher Education (2005-8), the Hellenic Journal of Music, Education and Culture (2010-16), Journal of Popular Music Education (2017-21), Participations (2014-), Arts and the Market (2022-), and Journal of Live Music Studies (2025-). Regular reviewer for international journals, book proposals, manuscripts, grant applications and external promotion panels.
Professional Activities and Recognition
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- Honorary Professor, University of Queensland
- College of Experts, Department of Culture, Media and Sport