Music and Wellbeing Launch

Professor Lord Robert Winston (Scientist & Chairman of the Royal College of Music) delivers a talk on music and mind. Professor Winston’s approach brought a refreshing balance to the evening, with both the caution of a scientific view alongside a personal touch of optimism for the future of Music and Wellbeing studies.

David Robinson is a Sheffield alumni who has made the transition from being a town planner to Lead Music Therapist at Nordoff Robbins. Here he speaks about the work of music therapy and its applications across a range of populations and circumstances. He shows a video of him working with a young boy with complex and profound developmental difficulties, revealing the fascinating nature of their musical communication. http://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/content/what-we-do/train-music-therapist/what-former-students-say

Helena Muller is the Founder and Chief Executive of Lost Chord, an organisation that produces more than 1,300 interactive musical sessions a year in 130 care homes, designed to stimulate responses from people with dementia through the media of music, song and dance. Helena spoke movingly about stories of music and dementia care from her own experience. Her unique and powerful anecdotes of witnessing music effects in individuals living with dementia touched many people in the audience. http://www.lost-chord.org.uk/about_us.html

Dr Victoria Williamson is the Director of Music and Wellbeing. Laura is the Vice Chancellor’s Fellow for Music at the University of Sheffield and teaches on the MA course in Psychology of Music. Dr Williamson introduces and outlines the aims of Music and Wellbeing, as well as giving an overview of some of the projects already underway.