Explore the Music Psychology program at the Conservatorium

Music psychologists explore the ways that music impacts our emotions, relationships, brain and bodies. We use a range of research approaches to explore the connection between music and individuals, groups and society in order to better understand how music can promote health and wellbeing.

Music Psychology at the Conservatorium

Discovering how people think, feel, behave and learn when engaging with music.

Our Music Psychology Laboratory undertakes research, learning and teaching around the key concept of what it is for individuals and societies to be musical, and the ways music forms an invaluable aspect of everyday life. Our researchers collaborate and engage with other disciplines and organisations in ways that foster exploration, innovation and experimentation.

We work in close association with our sister laboratory at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences – the Clinical Music Neuroscience Laboratory – and collaborate on projects within the Music Mind and Wellbeing Initiative (MMW) at the University of Melbourne.

The Music Psychology Laboratory provides an innovative and overarching framework within which is housed three key areas of music research, teaching and engagement:

Psychology of Music

Focuses on the role music plays in every society and culture, and how it is an important part of all aspects of life, including various social, recreational and cultural occasions. Utilising a range of methodologies, our research initiatives seek to understand the role and purpose of music for individuals and communities, and the ways people engage with music and use music to regulate their mood and emotions in ways that reinforce wellbeing.

Performance Science

Involves the interdisciplinary study of human performance within music. We draw on methodologies across various scientific disciplines to understand the fundamental skills, mechanisms and outcomes of music involvement that enhance the delivery of various forms of professional music performance and music creation.

Performance Teaching

Applies empirical evidence from music psychology related to skill acquisition, practice quality, and motivation, to explore targeted interventions that can be utilised by musicians and teachers and implemented within music education settings, both formal and informal.

Learn more about Masters in Music - Performance Teaching course

Music Psychology and Performance Science courses

Visit the University of Melbourne course site to find out more on our undergraduate and graduate courses

Our people

I was really interested in the work Dr Margaret Osborne was doing at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, which seemed to be at the forefront of performance science research and everything seemed to evolve from there. My current research involves the development and assessment of an online performance skills curriculum for adolescent music students and teachers.
Anneliese Gill
Music Psychology and Performance Science Research

Want to know more?

Get information on the courses you’re interested in, or ask our team a question.

Make an enquiry

Conservatorium Events

Interculturalism in Music: The theory and practice of combining Dontri Thai and ‘Western’ music

Thursday 15 October 2026 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Thai classical music (dontri Thai) and music rooted in the Euro-American tradition take fundamentally different approaches to pitch, rhythm, form, texture, timbre, and social function. Disparities in how these concepts and practices are understood and applied across the two traditions complicate ...
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ASQ and MCM in Concert: An Evening of String Quartets

Thursday 15 October 2026 7:30pm - 10:00pm

Join the Australian String Quartet and talented young musicians from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music for a special evening celebrating the art of chamber music. The culmination of the ASQ’s residency at the Conservatorium, this concert brings together professional artists and emerging music...
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Overtures: Stories, Legends & Landscapes

Friday 16 October 2026 7:00pm - 8:00pm

MCM Philharmonic Orchestra Hansel and Gretel - fairy tale William Tell - legend Fingal’s Cave - landscape Romeo and Juliet - story Join the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music’s Philharmonic Orchestra for a concert filled with drama, romance, adventu...
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Melbourne Conservatorium Big Band and Jazz Orchestra

Sunday 18 October 2026 6:00pm - 8:30pm

Experience the energy and excitement of large ensemble jazz as the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music’s Big Band and Jazz Orchestra take to the stage at Kenneth Myer Auditorium. Featuring some of the Conservatorium’s emerging jazz and improvising musicians, the two ensembles present a dynamic...
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Melba Hall 19: Chamber Competition Finals

Monday 19 October 2026 1:10pm - 2:00pm

The much-loved Melba Hall Lunch Hour Concert Series returns for Semester 2 2026. Each week will feature a different instrument or area, performed by undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and facilitated by academic staff. Join us for an intimate ...
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Conservatorium Choir - Semester 2 2026

Tuesday 20 October 2026 7:00pm - 8:00pm

Conservatorium Choir is a large choir open to all voice types, focusing on Western choral repertoire, both sacred and secular, from the seventeenth century to the present day. Over the semester singers have improved their singing skills, including learning to pronounce texts in different...
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Dedications

Tuesday 20 October 2026 7:30pm - 8:30pm

The Sutherland Trio (Caroline Almonte, Molly Kadarauch and Elizabeth Sellars) together with their friends Danielle and Luca Arcaro perform an all-Australian program of works connected to the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music community. Featuring two world premieres, ‘Songs for Manny’ by Ella Mace...
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Composition Showcase: what you make of it.

Wednesday 21 October 2026 - All day

The Composition Honours cohort is proud to present ‘what you make of it’, a concert of all new premieres. Hear how each composer explores ‘connection’ - via themselves, their environment, architecture and musical structures. Featuring works by Francesco Rachetti, Joonwoo Kim, Oscar Jenkins-Wing a...
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Masters & Apprentices feat. Kris Davis

Wednesday 21 October 2026 - All day

Join Melbourne Conservatorium of Music Jazz & Improvisation students as they perform alongside GRAMMY‑winning pianist and composer Kris Davis, in this special Melbourne International Jazz Festival performance. Kris Davis has emerged as one of the most influential pianists and composers in...
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Tiento

Thursday 22 October 2026 7:30pm - 9:00pm

The MCM’s Leading Edge Guitar Ensemble Presents a diverse program of music for guitars by Bensa, Brouwer, Guinga, Piazzolla, Bonfa, De Vries and Murray. Nicole Brady’s new piece Tiento, commissioned by Peter and Rasika Crowley, will be premiered by PhD guitarist Chrystian Dozza. Program O...
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Dee Dee Bridgewater in Conversation

Friday 23 October 2026 - All day

Hear from one of the most celebrated voices in jazz as GRAMMY and Tony Award-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater sits down for an intimate artist talk. Over the course of a multifaceted career spanning more than four decades, Dee Dee Bridgewater has ascended to the upper echelon of vocalists...
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World Music Concert - Spring

Friday 23 October 2026 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Each semester University of Melbourne students learn musical traditions from around the world with our World Music Ensembles. At this year-end concert, celebrate their achievements at a concert featuring the Chinese Music Ensemble, African Music and Dance Ensemble, and World Music Choir.
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Tirsi morir volea

Friday 23 October 2026 7:00pm - 8:00pm

The Medieval and Renaissance Ensemble presents a programme of settings of Giovanni Battista Guarini’s Tirsi morir volea by composers including Philippe de Monte, Luca Marenzio, Carl Luython, and Giaches de Wert on original instruments, with readings from the poetry of Guarini. Program Gio...
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Jazz and Improvisation Grad Showcase

Monday 26 October 2026 - All day

Celebrate extraordinary emerging talents in a night of music featuring graduating students from the Jazz and Improvisation department at the University of Melbourne. Explore more Faculty of Fine Arts and Music events here.
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Vocal Ensemble - 20th Anniversary Celebration!

Monday 26 October 2026 7:30pm - 9:00pm

Celebrating 20 Years of Excellence For two decades, the Vocal Ensemble class has been a cornerstone of training and performance excellence for young artists. Under the direction of pianist Andrea Katz, the ensemble has served as a vital stepping stone for a new generation of opera and co...
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MYRIAD: Dances and Dragons

Thursday 29 October 2026 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Join MYRIAD, the Percussion Ensemble of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, for their latest offering of percussion works. This semester, MYRIAD is honoured to be premiering a new percussion sextet written for them by distinguished Australian composer Emeritus Professor Barry Conyngham AM...
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MCM Graduate Showcase 2026: Voice and Piano

Friday 30 October 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm

Join us in celebrating the achievements of the 2026 graduating classes from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music! Immerse yourself in a series of inspiring concerts featuring our talented students. You can view and book the other concerts in the series here. Program VOICE Genevie...
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MCM Graduate Showcase 2026: Brass, Woodwind and Composition

Friday 30 October 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm

Join us in celebrating the achievements of the 2026 graduating classes from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music! Immerse yourself in a series of inspiring concerts featuring our talented students. View and book the other concerts in the series here. Program BRASS Count 5 (Lulu L...
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MCM Graduate Showcase 2026: Percussion, Guitar, Strings, Chamber Music and Composition

Friday 30 October 2026 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Join us in celebrating the achievements of the 2026 graduating classes from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music! Immerse yourself in a series of inspiring concerts featuring our talented students. View and book the other concerts in the series here. Program PERCUSSION Alicia Jeo...
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Keyboard Festival 2026: Dmitri Shostakovich’s Complete Preludes and Fugues Opus 87

31 October 2026 - 1 November 2026

The Keyboard Area staff of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music invites pianists and music lovers alike for a rare opportunity to hear the complete 24 Preludes and Fugues of Dmitri Shostakovich at the 2026 Keyboard Festival. Among the most distinguished pianists in Australia, these performan...
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Keyboard Festival 2026: Dmitri Shostakovich’s Complete Preludes and Fugues Opus 87

31 October 2026 - 1 November 2026

The Keyboard Area staff of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music invites pianists and music lovers alike for a rare opportunity to hear the complete 24 Preludes and Fugues of Dmitri Shostakovich at the 2026 Keyboard Festival. Among the most distinguished pianists in Australia, these performan...
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World Music Concert - Gamelan Gong Semester 2 2026

Monday 2 November 2026 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Each semester University of Melbourne students learn to perform musical traditions from Central Java on the UOM Gamelan. Come celebrate their achievements at a concert that also features the Melbourne Community Gamelan and Putra Panji Asmara.
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The Art of Us 2026

Thursday 3 December 2026 5:00pm - 8:00pm

Join the students, staff and alumni of the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (FFAM) in a celebration of disability art in all its forms. Members of the FFAM community who identify as disabled, neurodivergent or Deaf will come together for a concert and multimedia exhibition...
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Southbank Series: Worlds Within

Saturday 5 December 2026 7:30pm - 9:00pm

The final concert of the 2026 Southbank Series brings the season to a deeply reflective close under the direction of Eivind Aadland, Chief Conductor of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Program Missy Mazzoli: These Worlds in Us for Chamber Orchestra Richard Strauss: Metamorphosen fo...
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News

14 May 2026

Ahead of its premiere at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Kate Tempany discusses her latest work, ‘Grasslands Suite’, which blends ecolog...

21 April 2026

A new music performing ensemble for young people living with disability is currently seeking members for its inaugural cohort....

20 March 2026

John Davis has been named the recipient of the 2026 Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award, recognising his outstanding contributions to music in Australia....