What Has The Last Two Decades Of Research On Singing And Health Taught Us? A Personal Reflection
Thursday 19th May 2022, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
The last twenty years has seen a remarkable growth of research on the possible health and wellbeing benefits of singing.
This course will chart this development, revisiting the early studies at the beginning of the century and charting progress since then towards the conduct of significant randomised controlled trials on singing for people with serious health conditions, including COPD, mental health, Parkinson’s and dementia.
In addition to such quantitative controlled studies consideration will be given to the essential contributions of qualitative research to understanding how singing works.
The course will help students develop the skills needed for critical interpretation of research studies, and the potential translation of their findings into practice.
Professor Stephen Clift
Stephen Clift is Professor Emeritus, Canterbury Christ Church University, and former Director of the Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health...
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.
Tuesday 17th February 2026
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
(London Time)
Simultaneous Singing and Dancing in Musical Theatre: A Cross-Disciplinary Evidence Review
Debbie Winter
Dr Claire Thomas
This short course invites participants to critically examine the latest cross-disciplinary evidence on the physical and vocal demands of musical theatre performance. Drawing on a comprehensive literature review conducted by Debbie Winter and Claire Thomas (Voice Study Centre, University of Essex), the course explores research from voice science, dance medicine, sports science, and performance pedagogy.
Thursday 19th February 2026
8:30 AM - 10:30 AM
(London Time)
It’s not a virus! Reconceptualizing and De-pathologizing Music Performance Anxiety
Rebecca Herman
Performance Anxiety is one of the most widespread and debilitating challenges facing musicians across all ages, nationalities and musical genres. Despite decades of research and the development of numerous interventions, we do not yet have an established way of supporting performers experiencing performance anxiety. Aimed at performers, teachers, researchers and students, this presentation will first summarise the current state of play in performance anxiety research, before exploring alternative ways to think about performance anxiety, drawing on new research outside of performance psychology...
Thursday 19th February 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Thursday 26th February 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
(London Time)
Performing Pain: Vocal Health in Emotional Roles!
Louisa Morgan
How connected are acted emotions to our real-life emotions? Are they expressed differently? Do they feel different in the body? This 2-part course with Louisa Morgan looks at the potential impact of acted emotion on vocal health, why we should consider it as voice practitioners, and how to care for our performers needing to work with it.