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

Lorca’s Musics and Echoes of the Spanish Civil War

Friday 17 July 2026 - All day

On the 90th anniversary of the start of the Spanish Civil War, staff and students of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, along with international guests, join in offering a concert and launch of the new book Music, Propaganda and the Spanish Civil War (edited by Michael Christoforidis and Dieg...
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Unbound frequencies

Tuesday 28 July 2026 7:30pm - 8:40pm

Unbound Frequencies showcases new composer-performer works from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music’s Interactive Composition community. Exploring synthesis, audiovisual performance, spatial sound, and experimental music practices, the program traverses immersive sonic environments, live electr...
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Master of Music (Orchestral Performance) Showcase Concert 2026

Wednesday 29 July 2026 7:30pm - 9:15pm

Join our Master of Music (Orchestral Performance) students in their annual showcase concert. You will hear the entire cohort perform alongside elite musicians from our city’s professional orchestras. The concert will be introduced by members of the ensemble and directed by Richard Davis and Tim B...
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Classical Voice Mega Day 2026

Sunday 2 August 2026 9:30am - 6:00pm

We are inviting high school students and singing teachers with an interest in classical voice to join us for a celebration of all things singing with Conservatorium staff, students and alumni at a free Classical Voice Mega Day. Participants will engage in workshops, masterclasses and rehearsals, ...
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Bach reimagined

Tuesday 4 August 2026 7:30pm - 8:45pm

Join renowned pianist Kristian Chong in Bach works for keyboard and works for other instruments that have been transcribed and reimagined by masterful composers Liszt and Busoni for the piano. Opening with grandeur, Bach’s Chromatic Fantasie and Fugue remains one of his most daring and innova...
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Earth-Like

Wednesday 5 August 2026 7:00pm - 8:15pm

Quercus Trio, pioneers in celebrating Australian horn trios, present trios by Don Banks and John Polglase alongside Stuart Greenbaum’s horn trio “Earth-Like,” a world premiere exploring our search for habitable worlds and what makes us human. From cosmic conditions for life to intimat...
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Letters to Louise

Tuesday 11 August 2026 7:30pm - 8:30pm

A Musical Tribute to the Legacy of Louise Hanson-Dyer In a tribute to the great 20th century patron of the arts and music publisher, Louise Hanson-Dyer, mesmerising mezzo-soprano Dimity Shepherd partners with pianist Caroline Almonte to present a breathtakingly diverse collection of works com...
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The sonata as storytelling

Tuesday 18 August 2026 7:30pm - 9:10pm

The Sonata as Storytelling explores the sonata as a powerful vehicle for musical narrative, bringing together two masterpieces that reveal the expressive possibilities of the form across two centuries. Composed in the final months of his life, Schubert’s Piano Sonata in A major, D959 unfolds ...
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Australian Wind Quintet perform Gounod, Klughardt and Coleman

Tuesday 25 August 2026 7:30pm - 8:40pm

Celebrate an exciting moment in Melbourne’s musical community with the Australian Wind Quintet in a vibrant concert marking the commencement of new flute lecturer Catherine Gregory at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. The program features Gounod’s charming Petite Symphonie, performed alo...
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Jazz & Improvisation staff and students in concert #2 2026

Tuesday 1 September 2026 7:30pm - 8:30pm

The Jazz & Improvisation department celebrate the rich diversity and brilliance of the Australian jazz and improvised music community in this concert, featuring many of their staff and students performing a wide range of repertoire side by side. This recital is presented as part of the Ha...
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Twilight

Friday 4 September 2026 8:00pm - 9:30pm

Associate Professor and Principal Fellow Dr Zachary Dunbar presents a piano recital at Tempo Rubato Brunswick. The recital is built around the theme of twilight. From Adès’ otherworldly Darknesse Visible to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Zachary explores music that captures the nostalgia and s...
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Get Up 2026

29 July 2026 - 9 September 2026

Jazz and Improvisation students lead jam sessions. All music students welcome. Get Up Schedule 29 July 2026, 7PM - Lionel Lounge 19 August 2026, 7PM - Lionel’s Lounge 9 September 2026, 7PM - Lionel’s Lounge Venue This jam session takes place in Lionel’s Lounge. Please ente...
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Collisions 2026

5 August 2026 - 16 September 2026

Collisions brings together musicians, dancers and artists for a night of cross-disciplinary improvisation and collaboration. Celebrating spontaneity, experimentation and the new - Collisions is a series of interdisciplinary improv nights curated by students from the Conservatorium Jazz and Im...
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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....