My work focuses on the intersubjective experience of time. This phenomenon is perhaps nowhere more exquisitely manifest, empirically observable, and subject to artistic exploration than in music and musicality. As a musician and music scholar, I specialise in Byzantine chant (the traditional music of the Greek Orthodox church), music of the Middle East, and music of Southeast Asia.
Before starting my PhD, I served as executive director at the Center for World Music, in San Diego California. Working with ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown, and funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, I developed the World Music in the Schools programme, which continues to thrive today. My doctoral work, undertaken at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), informed by my lifelong experience as a chanter in the Greek Orthodox tradition, investigated the experience of temporality amongst chanters at ancient centres of our tradition, a direction I have more recently extended to communities in diaspora.
Deeply interested in interpersonal timing and time perception in music, I joined the department of Cognitive Science at UCSD as a postdoctoral scholar and fellow at the Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center. Training in cognitive science, I developed methods to investigate interpersonal timing both at the behavioural and neural level in the context of musical performance and interaction. Underlying my approach is the idea of taking the group level as the fundamental unit of analysis. This idea, which has guided all my work, re-centres any methodology on culture, taking lived experience as “ground truth”, the basis for any measurement relating to cultural phenomena, like music. In 2014 I joined the UCSD Institute for Neural Computation as a scientist where, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, I worked to develop synchronised group electroencephalography (EEG) measures for use in ecological environments from concerts to classrooms. Stemming from this work, I am currently investigating methods for achieving neuromodulation through the use of Audio Augmented Reality (AAR), on a project called SoundMind. This project, a research collaboration between UCC, and King’s College London, is funded by a grant from the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen foundation.
At UCC, I teach classes in ethnomusicology, focusing on middle eastern music, music cognition and perception, and Balinese gamelan. I am currently primary supervisor for 6 PhD students and secondary for 9 more. I have also supervised 7 taught masters in ethnomusicology. Currently, I lead a project that stemmed from a UCC Creative initiative that I developed called “the Lullaby Exchange”, which comprises a first step towards uncovering the vast and hidden landscape of the world’s lullabies using a crowd-sourced, collaborative approach.
My work has been featured in the New York Times; the BBC; the Los Angeles Times; the San Diego Union Tribune; the Science Network; Cork 96fm; and Nouvelles du Monde; among others.
Current teaching includes:
Biography
I am a lecturer in music, director of the Film Music, and Theatre Doctoral School, and coordinator of the MA in Ethnomusicology at the Department of Music, University College Cork. I am also a visiting senior lecturer of research at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King’s College London.My work focuses on the intersubjective experience of time. This phenomenon is perhaps nowhere more exquisitely manifest, empirically observable, and subject to artistic exploration than in music and musicality. As a musician and music scholar, I specialise in Byzantine chant (the traditional music of the Greek Orthodox church), music of the Middle East, and music of Southeast Asia.
Before starting my PhD, I served as executive director at the Center for World Music, in San Diego California. Working with ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown, and funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, I developed the World Music in the Schools programme, which continues to thrive today. My doctoral work, undertaken at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), informed by my lifelong experience as a chanter in the Greek Orthodox tradition, investigated the experience of temporality amongst chanters at ancient centres of our tradition, a direction I have more recently extended to communities in diaspora.
Deeply interested in interpersonal timing and time perception in music, I joined the department of Cognitive Science at UCSD as a postdoctoral scholar and fellow at the Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center. Training in cognitive science, I developed methods to investigate interpersonal timing both at the behavioural and neural level in the context of musical performance and interaction. Underlying my approach is the idea of taking the group level as the fundamental unit of analysis. This idea, which has guided all my work, re-centres any methodology on culture, taking lived experience as “ground truth”, the basis for any measurement relating to cultural phenomena, like music. In 2014 I joined the UCSD Institute for Neural Computation as a scientist where, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, I worked to develop synchronised group electroencephalography (EEG) measures for use in ecological environments from concerts to classrooms. Stemming from this work, I am currently investigating methods for achieving neuromodulation through the use of Audio Augmented Reality (AAR), on a project called SoundMind. This project, a research collaboration between UCC, and King’s College London, is funded by a grant from the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen foundation.
At UCC, I teach classes in ethnomusicology, focusing on middle eastern music, music cognition and perception, and Balinese gamelan. I am currently primary supervisor for 6 PhD students and secondary for 9 more. I have also supervised 7 taught masters in ethnomusicology. Currently, I lead a project that stemmed from a UCC Creative initiative that I developed called “the Lullaby Exchange”, which comprises a first step towards uncovering the vast and hidden landscape of the world’s lullabies using a crowd-sourced, collaborative approach.
My work has been featured in the New York Times; the BBC; the Los Angeles Times; the San Diego Union Tribune; the Science Network; Cork 96fm; and Nouvelles du Monde; among others.
Research Interests
- Ethnomusicology
- Cognitive Science
- Neuroscience
- Voice Studies
- Byzantine Chant
- Balinese Music
- Middle Eastern Music
- Music Education & Learning
Research Grants
| Project | Funding Body | Start Date | End Date | Award | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indigenous Australian Art Music Composers: A process of Reconnection/Connection | Irish Research Council | 01-SEP-22 | 15-DEC-23 | €27,500.00 | |
| SoundMind: investigating the use of Audio Augmented Reality (AAR) in dementia. A 3.5 year collaborative research project between the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College, London, and the Centre for Arts Research Practice (CARPE), at University College Cork. Total project budget: 2.5M. | The Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute | 01-JUL-23 | 01-DEC-26 | €940,000.00 | |
| Ethnomusicological approach to the Morismas of Zacatecas. Analysis of colonialism, community and identity. | Irish Research Council | 01-SEP-23 | 31-AUG-25 | €54,520.00 | |
| Mapping the Timescape. | Enterprise Irl | 26-JUL-19 | 07-DEC-20 | €15,691.00 | |
| Enterprise Irl | 19-FEB-21 | 18-APR-22 | €3,723.00 | ||
| Connecting STEM to Music and the Physics of Sound Waves | National Science Foundation (USA) | 01-JUL-17 | 30-JUN-19 | €1,200,000.00 | |
| Group Brain Dynamics in Learning Network | National Science Foundation (USA) | 01-AUG-15 | 15-JAN-19 | €749,000.00 | |
| Mia-Rose Blasker Science and Technology Innovative Research Grant (https://www.sdfoundation.org) | Other: Not Listed | 01-AUG-12 | 01-AUG-13 | €75,000.00 |
Publications
Book Chapters
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2023) | 'From Symbols to Letters…to Symbols: the intersubjectivity of the musical work in the received tradition of Byzantine chant' Khalil, Alexander (2023) 'From Symbols to Letters…to Symbols: the intersubjectivity of the musical work in the received tradition of Byzantine chant' In: Nikos Ordoulidis (eds). New Approaches to Byzantine Chant Studies. Athens, Greece: Conservatoire of the Diocese of Veroia and Naoussa. [Details] | |
| (2023) | 'By the Rivers of Babylon: the role of the cantor in Greek Orthodox diasporic communities in the United States' Khalil, Alexander K. (2023) 'By the Rivers of Babylon: the role of the cantor in Greek Orthodox diasporic communities in the United States' In: The Oxford Handbook of Community Singing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Details] | |
| (2019) | '“The Echoing Palimpsest: Singing and the Experience of Time at the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople' Khalil, Alexander K (2019) '“The Echoing Palimpsest: Singing and the Experience of Time at the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople' In: Oxford Handbook of Voice Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Details] | |
| (2019) | '“Music, Cognition, and Education.”' Khalil, Alexander K., Victor Minces, John Iversen, Gabriella Musacchia, Christina Zhao, and Andrea Chiba (2019) '“Music, Cognition, and Education.”' In: The Science of Learning Book. Paris: OECD Publishing. [Details] | |
| (2016) | '“The Gamelan Project: teaching, playing with, and learning from American schoolchildren playing Balinese gamelan.”' Khalil, Alexander K. (2016) '“The Gamelan Project: teaching, playing with, and learning from American schoolchildren playing Balinese gamelan.”' In: Performing Indonesia. Washington, DC: Freer and Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution. [Details] | |
| (2015) | 'Mindmusic: Playful and Social Installations at the Interface between Music and the Brain' Mullen, Tim, Alexander Khalil, Tomas Ward, John Iversen, Grace Leslie, Richard Warp, Matt Whitman, et al. (2015) 'Mindmusic: Playful and Social Installations at the Interface between Music and the Brain' In: More Playful User Interfaces. Singapore: Springer. [Details] |
Peer Reviewed Journals
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2022) | 'It Takes Two: Interpersonal Neural Synchrony Is Increased after Musical Interaction' Khalil A;Musacchia G;Iversen JR; (2022) 'It Takes Two: Interpersonal Neural Synchrony Is Increased after Musical Interaction'. Brain Sciences, 12 (3) [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'Listening to Waves: Engaging Underrepresented Students Through the Science of Sound and Music' Minces, Victor, Booker, Angela, and Khalil, Alexander (2021) 'Listening to Waves: Engaging Underrepresented Students Through the Science of Sound and Music'. Connected science learning, [Details] | |
| (2020) | 'One Tap at a Time: Correlating Sensorimotor Synchronization with Brain Signatures of Temporal Processing' D'Andrea-Penna GM;Iversen JR;Chiba AA;Khalil AK;Minces VH; (2020) 'One Tap at a Time: Correlating Sensorimotor Synchronization with Brain Signatures of Temporal Processing'. Cerebral Cortex Communications, 1 (1) [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2013) | 'Group rhythmic synchrony and attention in children' Khalil AK;Minces V;McLoughlin G;Chiba A; (2013) 'Group rhythmic synchrony and attention in children'. Frontiers in psychology, 4 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2010) | 'Gaining Insight into Cultural Geography through the Study of Musical Instruments' Khalil, Alexander K (2010) 'Gaining Insight into Cultural Geography through the Study of Musical Instruments'. Journal for Learning Through the Arts, 6 ((1)) [DOI] [Details] |
Other Journals
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2020) | 'Music and Learning: Does Music Make You Smarter?' Musacchia, Gabriella and Khalil, Alexander (2020) 'Music and Learning: Does Music Make You Smarter?' Frontiers for Young Minds, . [Details] |
Conference Publications
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2016) | 8th International Conferenceon Education and New Learning Technologies Minces, V., Khalil, A., Oved, I., Challen, C., Chiba, A. (2016) Listening to Waves: Using Computer Tools to Learn Science through Making Music 8th International Conferenceon Education and New Learning Technologies [Details] |
PhD Thesis
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2009) | Echoes of Constantinople: oral and written tradition of the psaltes of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Khalil, Alexander K (2009) Echoes of Constantinople: oral and written tradition of the psaltes of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. San Diego, CA USA: PhD Thesis [Details] |
Reviews
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2003) | From China's Southwest Borders: Minority Dances, Songs and Instrumental Music of Yunnan. in 'Asian Music' Vol.34, Iss. 2 (Spring). Khalil, Alexander K (2003) From China's Southwest Borders: Minority Dances, Songs and Instrumental Music of Yunnan. in 'Asian Music' Vol.34, Iss. 2 (Spring). Ithica: Reviews [Details] |
Magazine article
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2009) | 一场关于古琴的 旅行 (An Essay Concerning Travel for the Study of Guqin), National Geographic, China. Khalil, Alexander (2009) 一场关于古琴的 旅行 (An Essay Concerning Travel for the Study of Guqin), National Geographic, China. Beijing: Magazine article [Details] |
Web Page
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2022) | The Lullaby Exchange. Alexander Khalil and Isabel Ronan (2022) The Lullaby Exchange. Cork, Ireland: Web Page [Details] |
Artistic Research Projects (Production)
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2022) | Song of the Ambassadors. K Allado-McDowell, Derrick Skye, Refik Anadol, Ying Wu, Alexander Khalil (2022) Song of the Ambassadors. New York, NY: Artistic Research Projects (Production) [Details] | |
| (2017) | Byzantium 2.0: Acoustic Time Travel. Spyridon Antonopoulos, Dimos Papatzalakis, Nektarios Antoniou, Alexander Khalil, Marios Lazaridis (2017) Byzantium 2.0: Acoustic Time Travel. Los Angeles, CA: Artistic Research Projects (Production) [Details] | |
| (2015) | Ringing Minds. David Rosenboom, Alexander Khalil, Tim Mullen (2015) Ringing Minds. New York, NY: Artistic Research Projects (Production) [Details] |
Installation
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2019) | Electric Fields. Rosenberger, Katharina; Khalil, Alexander K; Brunett, John (2019) Electric Fields. Installation [Details] |
CD
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2022) | Heaven and Earth. Cappella Romana (2022) Heaven and Earth. Portland, Oregon: CD [Details] | |
| (2017) | The Sun of Justice: Byzantine Chant for Christmas. John Michael Boyer and Rev John Rassem El Massih (2017) The Sun of Justice: Byzantine Chant for Christmas. Portland, Oregon: CD [Details] | |
| (2004) | The Divine Liturgy of the Holy Orthodox Church of Antioch. Mt. Lebanon Choir (2004) The Divine Liturgy of the Holy Orthodox Church of Antioch. Beirut, Lebanon: CD [Details] | |
| (2003) | Shadow music of Tunjuk : two generations of Tunjuk musicians. Gendêr Wayang Ensemble of Tunjuk, Bali (2003) Shadow music of Tunjuk : two generations of Tunjuk musicians. San Diego, California: CD [Details] | |
| (2002) | Arctic Silence. Merja Soria (2002) Arctic Silence. Helsinki, Finland: CD [Details] |
Professional Activities
Patents
| Patent Number | Title | Granted | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US20230001127A1 | Continuous Auditory Brain Stimulation | 01-MAY-23 |
Conference Contributions
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2023) | O Taste and See that the Lord is Good: Church Music, Food and Nourishment, Khalil, Alexander K. (2023) Eat your words: Orality, Literacy, and Embodied Learning Through Sacred Music. [Oral Presentation], O Taste and See that the Lord is Good: Church Music, Food and Nourishment, Joensuu, Finlad , 12-JUN-23 - 17-JUN-23. [Details] | |
| (2023) | International Orthodox Theological Association International Conference, Alexander Khalil (2023) Community Re-membered: Musical Aesthetic Discord as Acculturation Strategy in Greek Orthodox Communities in the United States. [Oral Presentation], International Orthodox Theological Association International Conference, Volos, Greece , 12-JAN-23. [Details] | |
| (2022) | Music and Sound in Narratives of Healing, Alexander Khalil (2022) It Takes Two: relocating mental disorder affords insight into healing and music. [Plenary Lecture], Music and Sound in Narratives of Healing, Queen's University, Belfast , 16-DEC-22. [Details] | |
| (2022) | International Forum on Neurotechnologies that Connect Music with the Brain, Alexander Khalil (2022) Finding the Beat(s): considerations for musical neuromodulation and variability of rhythm perception. [Plenary Lecture], International Forum on Neurotechnologies that Connect Music with the Brain, Shanghai Conservatory of Music , 29-NOV-22. [Details] | |
| (2021) | The Ninth International Conference on Orthodox Church Music: “Church Music and Topography: City, Village, and Monastery” The International Society for Orthodox Church Music – ISOCM, Khalil, Alexander K (2021) The Chanting of Rev. Hanna Sakkab: a musical topography of time. [Keynote Speaker], The Ninth International Conference on Orthodox Church Music: “Church Music and Topography: City, Village, and Monastery” The International Society for Orthodox Church Music – ISOCM, Joensuu, Finland , 10-JUN-21. [Details] | |
| (2021) | Maynooth University’s Research Lecture Series, khalil, Alexander K (2021) From Symbols to Letters: The Work Concept Comes to/for Byzantine Chant. [Invited Seminars/Guest Lectures], Maynooth University’s Research Lecture Series, Maynooth University (online) , 03-MAR-21. [Details] | |
| (2019) | Lecture Series: Queen’s University, Belfast and the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Khalil, Alexander K (2019) Timescapes: quantitative and qualitative approaches to timing in music. [Invited Seminars/Guest Lectures], Lecture Series: Queen’s University, Belfast and the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Belfast, NI , 27-NOV-19. [Details] | |
| (2019) | International Orthodox Theological Association Inaugural Conference, Khalil, Alexander K. (2019) “John Mestakides, Protopsaltis of Jerusalem (and Anaheim)”. [Oral Presentation], International Orthodox Theological Association Inaugural Conference, Iasi, Romania . [Details] | |
| (2018) | Neuroscience 2018--Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Khalil, Alexander K, Ying Wu, John Iversen (2018) Studying auditory processing in group contexts with low-density wireless eeg. [Poster Presentation], Neuroscience 2018--Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, USA , 07-NOV-18. [Details] | |
| (2018) | 176th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Khalil, Alexander K (2018) Finding the beat: An ethnographic approach to beat perception. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], 176th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Victoria, BC, Canada , 05-NOV-18 - 09-NOV-18. [Details] | |
| (2018) | Society for Ethnomusicology 63rd Annual Meeting, Khalil, Alexander K. (2018) “Making Voices Count: Why Voice Studies in Ethnomusicology. [Oral Presentation], Society for Ethnomusicology 63rd Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, New Mexico . [Details] | |
| (2017) | South by Southwest.edu (SXSWedu), Khalil, Alexander K., Gabriella Musacchia, Christina Zhao, and Chiho Feindler (2017) “It’s About Time: Music, Rhythm, and Learning”. [Oral Presentation], South by Southwest.edu (SXSWedu), Austin, Texas . [Details] | |
| (2016) | South by Southwest.edu (SXSWedu), Khalil, Alexander K., Gabriella Musacchia, Alesha Bishop, and Chiho Feindler (2016) “How Music Powers STEAM Education (and the Brain)”. [Oral Presentation], South by Southwest.edu (SXSWedu), Austin, Texas . [Details] | |
| (2016) | National Science Foundation, Science of Learning Center Symposium, Khalil, Alexander K. (2016) Learning with Music and Music for Learning. [Invited Oral Presentation], National Science Foundation, Science of Learning Center Symposium, National Science Foundation headquarters, Washington DC USA , 08-FEB-16. [Details] | |
| (2015) | Dart Neuroscience Lecture Series, Khalil, Alexander K; Minces, Victor H (2015) The Gamelan Project. [Invited Oral Presentation], Dart Neuroscience Lecture Series, Dart Neuroscience Campus, San Diego, CA USA , 08-OCT-15. [Details] | |
| (2015) | Mozart and the Mind lecture series, Khalil, Alexander K. (2015) Re-thinking Prodigy: an Intercultural Perspective. [Invited Oral Presentation], Mozart and the Mind lecture series, La Jolla, CA USA , 27-SEP-15. [Details] | |
| (2015) | Congressional Briefing on the Science of Learning, Kuhl, Patricia; Chiba, Andrea; Khalil, Alexander K (2015) Congressional Briefing on the Science of Learning. [Oral Presentation], Congressional Briefing on the Science of Learning, Washington, DC USA , 24-JUN-15. [Details] | |
| (2015) | Safeguarding the Musical Traditions of Eastern Christianity, Khalil, Alexander K. (2015) “Preaching to the Choir: Preservation and Change in Eastern Chant Traditions in Diasporic Communities in America”. [Oral Presentation], Safeguarding the Musical Traditions of Eastern Christianity, Rome, Italy . [Details] | |
| (2015) | Society for Ethnomusicology 60th Annual Meeting, Khalil, Alexander K. (2015) “Echoes of the Distant Past: Reverend Hanna Sakkab and Byzantine Chant in Diaspora”. [Oral Presentation], Society for Ethnomusicology 60th Annual Meeting, Austin, Texas . [Details] | |
| (2014) | Convergence: a multidisciplinary dialogue on music, Khalil, Alexander K. (2014) Convergence: a multidisciplinary dialogue on music. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Convergence: a multidisciplinary dialogue on music, San Diego, CA USA , 18-MAY-14. [Details] | |
| (2013) | Mozart and the Mind lecture series, Khalil, Alexander K. (2013) In Sync: Music, Synchrony, and Attention. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Mozart and the Mind lecture series, Neuroscience Institute, La Jolla, CA USA , 05-NOV-13. [Details] | |
| (2012) | National Endowment for the Arts Interagency Task Force on the Arts and Human Development Inaugural Webinar, khalil, Alexander K (2012) The Gamelan Project: music, rhythm, and cognitive development. [Invited Lectures (Workshops)], National Endowment for the Arts Interagency Task Force on the Arts and Human Development Inaugural Webinar, Washington, DC, USA , 29-FEB-12. [Details] | |
| (2012) | American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Khalil, Alexander, K. (2012) “Translating Scientific and Technological Advances from the Laboratory to the Classroom: It’s About Time”. [Oral Presentation], American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Vancouver BC, Canada . [Details] | |
| (2011) | Biennial International Mind Brain Education Society Conference, Khalil, Alexander K. (2011) “Time is of the Essence: translational research at the Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center”. [Oral Presentation], Biennial International Mind Brain Education Society Conference, San Diego, California . [Details] | |
| (2009) | American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting: Disciplined Inquiry: Education Research in the Circle of Knowledge, Khalil, Alexander K (2009) Discovering Cultural Geography: Exploring the World Through Music. [Oral Presentation], American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting: Disciplined Inquiry: Education Research in the Circle of Knowledge, San Diego, CA USA , 16-APR-09. [Details] | |
| (2009) | Society for American Music 35th Annual Conference, Khalil, Alexander K (2009) Music of the Desert Fathers (of Arizona): Negotiating Religious, Ethnic, and National Identities. [Oral Presentation], Society for American Music 35th Annual Conference, Denver, CO USA , 18-MAR-09. [Details] | |
| (2008) | Society for Ethnomusicology 53rd Annual Meeting, Khalil, Alexander K (2008) Echoes: continuity and change amongst the psaltes of the Patriarchal church of Constantinople. [Oral Presentation], Society for Ethnomusicology 53rd Annual Meeting, Middletown, Connecticut USA , 23-OCT-08. [Details] | |
| (2003) | Society for Ethnomusicology 48th Annual Meeting, Khalil, Alexander K (2003) Escape from Eden: 刘起超 （Liu Qi Chao) and the power of names. [Invited Oral Presentation], Society for Ethnomusicology 48th Annual Meeting, Miami, Florida, USA , 25-OCT-03. [Details] |
Employment
| Employer | Position | From / To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Music, University College Cork | Lecturer | 17-DEC-18 / | |
| Institute for Neural Computation, University of California, San Diego | Project Scientist | 01-JAN-14 / 01-JUL-21 | |
| Sts Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church | First Cantor | 06-JAN-12 / 18-DEC-18 | |
| Department of Music, University of San Diego | visiting professor | 01-AUG-16 / 01-JAN-19 | |
| Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego | Postdoctoral Scholar | 01-JAN-10 / 01-JAN-14 | |
| Department of Music, Mira Costa College | Associate Faculty | 01-AUG-14 / 07-JUN-19 | |
| Department of Music, San Diego State University | visiting professor | 01-AUG-11 / 01-JUN-12 | |
| Department of Music, University of California, Riverside | visiting professor | 01-AUG-09 / 03-JAN-10 | |
| Department of Music, University of California, San Diego | Lecturer | 01-JAN-06 / 31-DEC-08 | |
| Center for World Music | Executive Director | 01-JAN-99 / 01-JAN-03 |
Education
| Year | Institution | Qualification | Subject | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | University of California, San Diego | Doctor of Philosophy in Music | Music | |
| 1996 | California Institute of the Arts | Master of Fine Arts | Music Composition and Performance | |
| 1994 | San Diego State University | Bachelor of Music | Music Composition |
Committees
| Committee | Function | From / To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| School of Film Music and Theatre Graduate Studies Committee | Chair | 2021 / | |
| Department of Music Graduate Studies Committee | Chair | 2021 / | |
| CACSSS Graduate Studies Committee | Member | 2021 / | |
| School of Film, Music, and Theatre Research Committee | member | 2021 / | |
| School of Film, Music, and Theatre SEMC | member | 2020 / | |
| CACSSS Structured PhD Programme Board of Studies | member | 2021 / | |
| Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center Research Fellows Committee | Chair | 2014 / 2018 |
Professional Associations
| Association | Function | From / To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Society for Ethnomusicology | member | 01-JAN-03 / | |
| Society for Neuroscience | regular member | 01-JAN-15 / | |
| International Society for Orthodox Church Music (ISOSM) | member | 01-JAN-19 / | |
| European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music | member | 01-JAN-20 / | |
| Society for Music Perception and Cognition | member | 01-JAN-17 / | |
| Neuroscience Ireland | Regular Member | 01-JUN-22 / | |
| Society for Musicology in Ireland | member | 01-JUN-22 / | |
| International Orthodox Theological Association (IOTA) | member | 01-JAN-19 / |
Honours and Awards
| Year | Title | Awarding Body | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | First Place Award | IEEE Brain Initiative Brain-computer interface (BCI) hackathon | |
| 2013 | Alumnus of the Year | San Diego State University Music Department | |
| 2010 | Postdoctoral Fellowship | Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center | |
| 2009 | Asian Heritage Award | Asia Media, INC, San Diego | |
| 2003 | Best Practices in Education Award | San Diego Business Roundtable for Education |
Consultancy
| Client | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| University of Limerick | ||
| University of Limerick | ||
| Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick | ||
| Israel Science Foundation |
Journal Activities
| Journal | Role | To / From | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific Reports | Peer Reviewer | 01-DEC-22 - | |
| Journal Of The International Society For Orthodox Church Music | Referee | 01-OCT-21 - 01-DEC-21 | |
| Cognitive Science | Peer Reviewer | 01-JAN-12 - 01-NOV-15 | |
| Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America | Peer Reviewer | 01-JAN-15 - 01-DEC-15 | |
| Ieee Transactions On Haptics | Peer Reviewer | 01-MAY-15 - 01-DEC-15 |
Other Activities
| Description | |
|---|---|
Director of the Film, Music, and Theatre Doctoral School, UCC: https://www.ucc.ie/en/fmt/doctoralschool | |
Coordinator: MA in Ethnomusicology, Department of Music, UCC: https://www.ucc.ie/en/cke68 | |
2020-present Coordinator: MA in Ethnomusicology Programme | |
2021-2022 Coordinator: Third Year Undergraduate Studies (Department of Music) | |
2019 Expert Reviewer: Israel Science Foundation | |
2014-2018: Mentor, Research Experience for Undergraduates programme. Mentored 7 undergraduate students, supervising laboratory work and data analysis, affording the opportunity to participate in professional scientific settings. |
Outreach Activities
| Description | |
|---|---|
2022 The UCC Creative Lullaby Exchange--Development and launch of a website through UCC Creative through which people worldwide may share and listen to each other's lullabies. www.lullabyexchange.org | |
2020 Interviewed for "Tell me in Ten" podcast talk on Sound, Brain, and Seizures, describing collaborative project with INFANT Centre to detect neonatal seizures through the process of sonification. https://www.corkdiscovers.org/other-resources | |
2019 Public lecture at Sound Sound Day with Dr. Annalisa Setti, ‘This is Your Brain on Sound: exploring sound going into, and coming out of, the brain’ 30 March, Nano Nagle Place, Cork | |
2019 Demonstrator: Cork Discovers 2019: interactive demonstration of brainwave sonification and interactive spectrogram. | |
2017-2019 Teacher, co-founder with Victor Minces: Listening to Waves Listening to Waves, a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation, seeks to inspire students to develop a deeper appreciation of both science and sound. We aim to transmit to the students the sense of wonder that we feel towards the sonic world, helping them become aware of the sounds in the environment and draw a connection between the perceptual and physical aspects of sound and music. Our group, based at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has been investigating the relationship between music practice, brain dynamics, and general aspects of cognition. Since much of our work involves education, we have conducted much of our research at various schools. During the course of our work, we became deeply involved in teaching students the science of sound and music, including their physical, perceptual, and neural aspects. Given the great interest that these activities generated in students and teachers we decided to expand this work into a stand-alone outreach program. We have served more than 3000 students across San Diego County, including students in the High Tech High School System, the Boys and Girls Club of San Diego, the Museum School, and the Sweetwater School District, and our web applications have been used more than 100,000 times throughout the world. www.listeningtowaves.com | |
2015-2018 Mentor: Mentor Assist Program (MAP) mentored 14 high school students over 3 years: by assisting in my laboratory they learned research skills and protocols and were afforded the opportunity to design their own individual research projects. https://innovation.ucsd.edu/events/applications-open-ucsd-mentor-assistance-program-map-2020-2021 |
Teaching Activities
Teaching Interests
My teaching focuses on the study of music in culture and music cognition. I take a practice-based approach to both areas, affording the opportunity of learning through performance study and experimentation. My current teaching focuses largely on Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian musics. I am interested in exploring the ways in which culture influences perception of musical phenomena. I also focus on addressing the geopolitical, religious, linguistic, and historical events and trends that shape music cultures.Current teaching includes:
- Cognitive Ethnomusicology (UG)
- A Survey of Middle Eastern Musics (UG)
- Balinese Gamelan Gendér Wayang (UG)
- Music Perception & Cognition in Culture (MA)
- History & Theory of Ethnomusicology (MA)
- Special Topics in Middle Eastern Music: Sacred Musics of Istanbul (UG)
- Byzantine Chant (UG)
- Music Cognition & Perception (UG)
- Irish Traditional Music Studies and Introduction to World Music (UG)
- Latin American Music (UG)