Study day with Catherine Laws: Musical Touch and Vicarious Perception (registrations closed)

This study ‘day’ (spread over two days) explores the role of touch in musical performance. The focus is the relationship between the significance of touch for musicians and its (often subconscious) impact upon audiences. How does touch form a locus of embodiment in a performer’s interactions with instruments and performance contexts? How might performer touch contribute to the vicarious embodied experience of music for listeners and watchers? 

Perspectives from artistic research – including performance research-in-progress – will be explored alongside those from philosophy (especially pragmatism) and psychology. We will present some of the ongoing work of ‘Musical Touch and Vicarious Perception,’ which forms part of the research cluster ‘Performance and Embodiment’, a partnership between the Orpheus Institute and the University of York. Presenters include: Teresa Brayshaw (writer, performance maker, and Feldenkrais practitioner), Natalie Bowling (specialist in the psychology of touch and vicarious perception), Bill Brooks (composer and musicologist), Nicholas Brown (composer, performer, and writer), and Catherine Laws (pianist and musicologist).

Attendance is free of charge, but places are limited: please register here. The aim of the study day is to share work in this field, with plenty of scope for discussion and exchange. For this reason, we encourage participants to commit to attending as much of the event as possible.

We have a very small number of slots available for additional presenters: please contact Catherine Laws directly to express interest in this: catherine.laws@orpheusinstituut.be or catherine.laws@york.ac.uk

Registrations are closed

Please register here.