Understanding motivation and practice quality in elite music performance. This project examines motivation and practice quality in elite music performance. It applies major theoretical explanations from other domains where optimising motivation and practice quality has consistently been found to increase performance, persistence, learning, creativity, and wellbeing. The expected outcomes of the project address the competitiveness of Australian musicians, particularly in light of significantly lo ....Understanding motivation and practice quality in elite music performance. This project examines motivation and practice quality in elite music performance. It applies major theoretical explanations from other domains where optimising motivation and practice quality has consistently been found to increase performance, persistence, learning, creativity, and wellbeing. The expected outcomes of the project address the competitiveness of Australian musicians, particularly in light of significantly lower funding for music institutions compared to international counterparts. The research endeavours to inform understandings about the nature of motivation and practice more generally, by extending conceptions that have until now been formed largely through research in non-artistic domains of human accomplishment.Read moreRead less
Redefining conceptions of child and adolescent emotional responses to music using time-series analysis. The National Review of Music Education recognizes the need to understand more fully how musical experiences impact on children's emotional and general development. Australian researchers are leaders in the field of continuous response to emotion in music. Our international leadership on this critically important issue will result in new ways of understanding music and teaching music to childre ....Redefining conceptions of child and adolescent emotional responses to music using time-series analysis. The National Review of Music Education recognizes the need to understand more fully how musical experiences impact on children's emotional and general development. Australian researchers are leaders in the field of continuous response to emotion in music. Our international leadership on this critically important issue will result in new ways of understanding music and teaching music to children through to adults because our explanations of affective aspects of music will be framed within a scientific perspective which moves beyond learning the purely technical and subjective aspects of music appreciation.Read moreRead less
Remediation: Performance Art and Video Performance. This project addresses National Research Priority 4: Safeguarding Australia, priority goal 'understanding our region and the world'. Its benefits will be felt within the cultural community in Australia and across the world. It will encourage overseas curators to include Australian works in their exhibitions; in turn this will generate international scholarship on works from Australia. This will set up a healthy critical dialogue and contribute ....Remediation: Performance Art and Video Performance. This project addresses National Research Priority 4: Safeguarding Australia, priority goal 'understanding our region and the world'. Its benefits will be felt within the cultural community in Australia and across the world. It will encourage overseas curators to include Australian works in their exhibitions; in turn this will generate international scholarship on works from Australia. This will set up a healthy critical dialogue and contribute to knowledge transfer and exchange between Australia and the rest of the world.Read moreRead less
Social cohesion and resilience through intercultural music engagement. This project aims to identify, evaluate and develop theoretical and practical ways in which intercultural music engagement can facilitate social cohesion and enhance community resilience and intercultural empathy. There is growing evidence that music is a powerful stimulus for wellbeing and interpersonal connection and it is increasingly applied to promote intercultural understanding. This project will use detailed observatio ....Social cohesion and resilience through intercultural music engagement. This project aims to identify, evaluate and develop theoretical and practical ways in which intercultural music engagement can facilitate social cohesion and enhance community resilience and intercultural empathy. There is growing evidence that music is a powerful stimulus for wellbeing and interpersonal connection and it is increasingly applied to promote intercultural understanding. This project will use detailed observational, participatory and experimental strategies to elucidate the psychosocial processes underpinning intercultural music engagement, isolating variables that promote social cohesion. The project will develop best practice guidelines for organisations seeking to use cultural exposure and interaction to promote positive multicultural experiences.Read moreRead less
Understanding and overcoming technical difficulties in woodwind musical instruments. A large minority of Australians play musical instruments, and even more enjoy listening. Wind instruments predominate in school bands. This project will provide knowledge and resources that will improve teaching and playing techniques. It will also provide understanding and information useful to instrument makers, of which Australia has several. The information will be made available in both technical and non-te ....Understanding and overcoming technical difficulties in woodwind musical instruments. A large minority of Australians play musical instruments, and even more enjoy listening. Wind instruments predominate in school bands. This project will provide knowledge and resources that will improve teaching and playing techniques. It will also provide understanding and information useful to instrument makers, of which Australia has several. The information will be made available in both technical and non-technical forms via our widely used web site.
The quality of this research, its useful application to practical problems, and the rapid and easy communication to a wide and very interested subset of the public will enhance Australia's reputation for research and music.Read moreRead less
When the Waters Will Be One: Indigenous Performance Traditions at the New Frontier of Inter-Cultural Discourse in Arnhem Land. This project will examine the emerging roles of Indigenous performance traditions from Arnhem Land as fulcra for the strategic development of new discourses between peoples of the region and the international community. The adaptation of music and dance traditions to new media and performance contexts will be considered as will the hereditary intellectual paradigms that ....When the Waters Will Be One: Indigenous Performance Traditions at the New Frontier of Inter-Cultural Discourse in Arnhem Land. This project will examine the emerging roles of Indigenous performance traditions from Arnhem Land as fulcra for the strategic development of new discourses between peoples of the region and the international community. The adaptation of music and dance traditions to new media and performance contexts will be considered as will the hereditary intellectual paradigms that underpin these processes. This project will also investigate historical antecedents to these new developments within the past 50 years, and explore their centrality to current attempts by Indigenous communities in Arnhem Land to achieve cultural and economic sustainability amid a continuing period of radical social change.Read moreRead less
The Role of Colour and Luminance in Spatial Location. How does the brain form our impression of the world? Black and white images appear normal to us. However, colour images without luminance variation have little depth, suggesting that the brain does not process colour in the same way as luminance. A series of fresh experiments examine how colour and luminance are utilised for seeing the depth and position of objects. The results will help us to understand how the first stages of visual process ....The Role of Colour and Luminance in Spatial Location. How does the brain form our impression of the world? Black and white images appear normal to us. However, colour images without luminance variation have little depth, suggesting that the brain does not process colour in the same way as luminance. A series of fresh experiments examine how colour and luminance are utilised for seeing the depth and position of objects. The results will help us to understand how the first stages of visual processing in the brain shape our sense of the world, and help develop theories of human vision, as well as animal and machine models of vision.Read moreRead less
Power and Performance: Revaluing Theatre in the 21st century. This project aims to examine the changing function of the theatre in Western culture. For millennia, theatre has been valued as a way to bridge questions of a personal and political nature. As the Western cultural sphere is now organised around generating consensus rather than debate, so this foundational function of theatre is being challenged and must be re-assessed. Accordingly, the role of the artist, audience or scholar of theatr ....Power and Performance: Revaluing Theatre in the 21st century. This project aims to examine the changing function of the theatre in Western culture. For millennia, theatre has been valued as a way to bridge questions of a personal and political nature. As the Western cultural sphere is now organised around generating consensus rather than debate, so this foundational function of theatre is being challenged and must be re-assessed. Accordingly, the role of the artist, audience or scholar of theatre is also changing in fundamental ways. There is now a need to re-examine the social value of theatrical performance in contemporary Western culture. This project plans to consider case studies in different global sites to develop a comparative and critical framework for establishing the new cultural politics of theatre and the re-evaluation of the arts.Read moreRead less
Physical musicality: Optimising lived experience among older adults . The aim of this project is to investigate how music-supported exercise, called physical musicality (PM), can promote wellbeing, quality of life, and cognitive-motor function in older adults, beyond the benefits of exercise or music listening alone. To achieve this aim, we will (a) conduct randomised control trials on PM programs; (b) isolate the ingredients and mechanisms underlying the benefits of PM; and (c) design culturall ....Physical musicality: Optimising lived experience among older adults . The aim of this project is to investigate how music-supported exercise, called physical musicality (PM), can promote wellbeing, quality of life, and cognitive-motor function in older adults, beyond the benefits of exercise or music listening alone. To achieve this aim, we will (a) conduct randomised control trials on PM programs; (b) isolate the ingredients and mechanisms underlying the benefits of PM; and (c) design culturally appropriate programs that optimise wellbeing and cognitive-motor function for older adults. Our research will reveal simple, non-medical steps that all adults of advancing age can take to maintain their wellbeing and cognitive functions so they can lead productive and successful lives into older age. Read moreRead less
Innovative composite systems with enhanced resilience to extreme loads. The rapidly increasing global population (projected to be 9.8 billion by 2050) and global urbanisation have created a demand for the construction industry, thereby increasing the pressure on our planet’s limited resources for the construction industry. This high demand can yield detrimental effects to the environment due to the high carbon footprint of conventional construction materials, and is amplified by the threat of ac ....Innovative composite systems with enhanced resilience to extreme loads. The rapidly increasing global population (projected to be 9.8 billion by 2050) and global urbanisation have created a demand for the construction industry, thereby increasing the pressure on our planet’s limited resources for the construction industry. This high demand can yield detrimental effects to the environment due to the high carbon footprint of conventional construction materials, and is amplified by the threat of accidental or deliberate extreme loadings to buildings, which can trigger fatal progressive collapse events. The proposed project aims to develop an innovative structural system with that possesses superior structural resilience to extreme loads and progressive collapse using lightweight eco-friendly materials. Read moreRead less