Creative Research Conversations

Dr. Sonya Lifschitz is an award-winning Ukrainian-Australian pianist, performance-maker, pedagogue, artistic researcher, and cultural leader at the forefront of classical and contemporary art music. Recognised with a 2024 Australian Women in Music Excellence in Classical Music Award, and praised internationally by the New York Times and The Age for her dynamic and powerful performances. She has ap...

Merinda Dias-Jayasinha is an outstanding, genre-crossing, multi-talented Australian vocalist. Her PhD project at Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music explores jazz-trained women vocalists' experiences of education and professional roles in the music industry. What is unique about Merinda's project is her use of narrative and poetic inquiry methodologies, and the development of techniques informed by a...

Today we’ll be joined by Lauren Stewart joined by our guest Professor Bronwyn Davies. Bronwy Davies is an Independent Scholar,  Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne and Emetruis Professor at the University of Western Sydney. She was a professor of Education at James Cook University and then at the University of Western Sydney before becoming an independent scholar in 2009. Bronw...

Lauren Stewart is a PhD candidate at Monash University and a recipient of the Monash Graduate Excellence Scholarship (MGES). Her doctoral research takes a holistic approach to the study of songwriting, exploring the technical, intrapersonal, and interpersonal factors that can enable or inhibit early-career songwriters’ development. She completed her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degr...

Today we’ll be joined by Miranda Park and our guest Professor Jonathan Wyatt. Jonathan is the Professor of Qualitative Inquiry and Director of the Centre for Creative-Relational Inquiry, at the University of Edinburgh in the UK. Jonathan trained as a counsellor, part-time, at the Isis Centre in Oxford and Oxford Brookes University. For ten years, he worked in the NHS as a counsellor in primary car...

Today we’ll be joined by Cassandra Gibson and our guest Dr Bryant Keith Alexander from Loyola Marymount University in the US. Dr Bryant Keith Alexander is dean of the LMU College of Communication and Fine Arts. He is professor of Communication, Performance and Cultural Studies. Alexander is an active scholar with a distinguished record of teaching, service, professional activity, and a regular per...

Miranda Park is a PhD candidate, writer, musician and editor. Her doctoral research is an intersectional feminist, narrative examination of students’ and teachers’ experiences in Australian tertiary jazz institutions. This project involves fieldwork across three jazz courses in Australia, with the aim of understanding how individual and institutional practices and beliefs contribute to, or challen...

Cassandra is a PhD candidate with the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance at Monash University in Naarm, Australia. She has a bachelor’s degree in music performance with honours (awarded in 2020) through Monash University. Cassandra has also obtained a Bachelor in secondary education from the University of Canberra in 2015 and completed her Licentiate degree with distinction in classi...

In this special bonus episode, we'll be joining our head-of-school Professor Margaret Barrett in conversation with our host Professor Stacy Holman-Jones. Professor Margaret Barrett is a leading figure in Australian and international music education. She is currently professor and Head of the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance at Monash University. She is currently Founding Director o...

In this episode, we'll be joining PhD Candidate Joseph Callaly in conversation with our host Professor Stacy Holman-Jones. Joseph contemporary musician whose practice blends performance and research. In particular, his writing examines the intersection of creative practice and ecological theory - following the notion that the environment is perceived by way of action. Central themes of Joseph’s Ph...

In this episode we'll be joining PhD candidate Joseph Callaly in conversation with Dr Alexis Kallio from the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. Dr. Kallio is Deputy Director (Research) of the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University and Deputy Director of the Creative Arts Research Institute. A specialist in the politics of music education and research methodologist, she works i...

In this episode, we'll be joining research assistant Iris Kennedy in conversation with our host Professor Stacy Holman-Jones. Iris is a research assistant at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance, she’s also our concerts and social media coordinator. She’s the person behind the microphone producing this podcast! Iris is a musician, poet and writer. She completed her honours degree i...

In this episode we'll be joining research assistant, musician, writer and our very own podcast producer Iris Kennedy in conversation with Katherine Zeserson. Katherine Zeserson is a UK-based strategic thinker, facilitator, musician, writer and community music advocate. She has worked across a wide spectrum of organisations and communities - from early years settings to universities, grassroots wom...

In this episode, we'll be joining theatre-maker and our very own doctoral student Mish Grigor in conversation with our host Professor Stacy Holman-Jones. Mish Grigor is a performing arts maker, writer and performer. She works across a range of collaborative formats. Mish is co-director of APHIDS with Lara Thomas, and one third of POST with Zoe Coombs Marr and Natalie Rose. Mish is a PhD researcher...

In this episode, we'll be joining theatre-maker and our very own doctoral student Mish Grigor in conversation with Professor Natalie Loveless. Professor Natalie Loveless is Professor of Contemporary Art and Theory in the Department of Art & Design at the University of Alberta, located in ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Amiskwacîwâskahikan) on Treaty Six territory, where she also directs the Research-Creation an...