Jane Davidson
Resume
W/Professor Jane Davidson’s career has spanned the university sector, conservatory education and the music profession. Her interests are in music psychology, music education, musicology, music theatre, vocal performance and contemporary dance. She has written more than 100 scholarly publications and secured a range of research grants. She has worked as an opera singer and a music theatre director, collaborating with performance groups such as Andrew Lawrence-King’s Harp Consort, Opera North, and the Portuguese Company, Drama per musica. After thirteen years at University of Sheffield, Jane began working full-time at the School of Music, University of Western Australia in January 2008.
Jane Davidson’s research is broadly in the area of performance studies, with four core areas of interest: musical development, expression in performance, music and health, and vocal studies and performance. In the area of musical development, her major output is based on two longitudinal research studies, each running for more than 10 years: study one focused on children showing exceptional skills; study two traced how children develop musical lives and identities, whether or not they persist with instrumental learning. Expressive body movement in musical performance is a central research interest, with topics ranging from the solo classical pianist and the chamber orchestra to Robbie Williams and Annie Lennox. Music and health research has resulted in publications on music therapy interventions with multiple sclerosis patients and a series of investigation into the health benefits of singing. Jane is currently investigating singing interventions for older people, especially those facing social isolation. Vocal research has included an investigation of the effects of the contraceptive pill on the female operatic singer’s voice. Two edited volumes -The Music Practitioner (Ashgate, 2004) and La purpura de la rosa: the staging of an opera, bringing the first Latin-American opera to life (DMLS, 2007) -reveal Jane’s interest in the social psychology of operatic rehearsal and production.