I received my BSc in psychology and mathematics from McGill University and my PhD from Queens University, Kingston in 1986 (supervisor Lola Cuddy). I am currently Professor and Head of the Department of Psychology, Macquarie University. I’m a Chief Investigator in the “Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders” which recently received $21 million dollars in funding by the Australian Research Council, and director of the Centre for Elite Performance, Expertise and Training at Macquarie University. My 2009 book “Music, Thought and Feeling” (Oxford University Press) is a leading textbook on the psychology of music. I have completed terms as Editor of the journal Empirical Musicology Review, and President…

Stephanie Pitts studied music at the University of York, before moving to Sheffield to undertake a PhD on the history of music education.  She also completed a PGCE with the Open University, and after a few years teaching music at a school in Derbyshire she began a lectureship at Sheffield, where she is now a Reader.  Stephanie has research interests in music education and the social psychology of music, and was co-editor of the British Journal of Music Education from 2002-7.  Recent research recent projects include investigations of jazz, classical and first-time concert attenders, and a study of musical life histories which looked at the long-term impact of music education…