AM Lab :: People

Dr Eduardo Coutinho is the Director of the APPLIED MUSIC Research Lab. He is a Lecturer in Music Psychology at the Department of Music from the University of Liverpool. Before his appointment at Liverpool, he worked at the University of Augsburg, Imperial College London, Swiss Center for Affective Sciences and Univeristy of Sheffield. Coutinho works in the interdisciplinary fields of Music Psychology and Affective Computing, where his expertise is in the study of emotional expression, perception and induction through music. He has contributed significantly to a broader understanding of the emotional impact of music on listeners, namely on the link between music structure and emotion, the types of emotions induced by music, and individual and contextual factors that mediate the relationships between music and listeners. Currently, his work focuses on the application of music in everyday life (and particularly Healthcare settings).

Bio. Xiaoxiao is a professional Chinese zither (Guzheng, a 21-string plucked instrument) player who has unique insights in expressively performing on both traditional and modern reper-toires. She held many Guzheng concerts in both China and the UK. Performing in different venues for different themes and with musicians from different genres shaped her as a profes-sional musician. With strong interests in music and performing arts, she acquired her Bache-lors in Music Education from Jiangnan University China, Masters in Musicology from Durham University and Applied Psychology from University of Leeds. Research. Besides her research interests on Music and Cognition, Music Identity, Music and Emotion, Music and Language, Music and Crime, and Film Music, her current research project is an interdisciplinary study located across the fields of Psychology, Public Health and Music. The working title of her thesis is: Music in Eldercare: improving the well-being and quality of life of people living with dementia and their caregivers – through music listening.

Xiaoxiao Hou

Ph.D. Candidate

Bio. Maria worked as a lecturer in music at the University of Jordan for five years. She received her MMus degree (merit) in 2011 from Trinity College of Music in London (now Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance), where she was a student of Mikhail Kazakevich, and her undergraduate degree (honors) in music performance in 2008 from the University of Jordan, studying with Tala Tutunji and others. Since the age of nine, she has studied piano with her mother and later with various teachers in both Minsk and Amman including Ivan Stepantsov. She enjoys performing the works of J.S. Bach, Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff, among others. Research. Piano pedagogy and performance. Her Ph.D. project aims at creating a piano curriculum which is designed for students with an Arabic background.

Maria Momani

Ph.D. Candidate

Bio. Jacopo is a PhD student in Computer Science at the University of Manchester (Machine Learning and Optimisation group and Cognitive Robotics Lab). Prior to his doctoral studies, he received an MSc in Computer Science from Reykjavik University and the University of Camerino, as part of a Double Degree Programme in Artificial Intelligence. His master thesis work combined Agent-Based modelling with Reinforcement Learning techniques for the design and the development of Tangramob, a simulation framework supporting public and private decision makers in the task of shaping smart mobility services in urban areas of interest. Jacopo also received his BSc in Computer Science from the University of Camerino, with a thesis investigating analytical tools for comparing clustering algorithms on different datasets in order to spot their ideal contexts of application. Research. His current project consists in applying machine learning methods in the field of music information retrieval, with the aim of devising new quantitative measures capable of capturing the structural richness and complexity of music in terms of musical form. These measures have the potential to form the basis of an algorithmic composition system, where long-term musical structure of the generated compositions is integrating the learning process as a form of supervision.

Jacopo de Berardinis

Ph.D. Candidate (University of Manchester)

Bio. Mickey Bryan is a composer/musician, music educator and outreach practitioner based in Liverpool. Mickey attended Chetham's School of Music (2003-2008), Trinity Conservatoire of Music and Dance (2008-2012, BMus (Hons) in Composition) and SAE institure (2018, BA in Audio Production). As a composer, Mickey has an extensive portfolio of acoustic and electronic works which have been premiered at venues such as the British Film Institute, RCM, RNCM, Liverpool MET Cathedral and Blackheath Halls. He has also performed alongside some of the UK’s finest classical, pop and jazz musicians in a variety of ensembles, including his own, across the country. Mickey has worked as a music practitioner within a variety of community settings for children and adults, including dementia care, SEND settings, early years, hospitals and schools. Through his work for charities such as Live Music Now and Turtle Key Arts, he has led and co-led numerous projects as a composer and musician. Over the past ten years, he has also taught composition, piano and woodwind for numerous music services, hubs and institutions. He is currently the co-director and teacher for Rise Music Education. Research. My Ph.D. project explores the use of collaborative music composition for people living with dementia. It aims to provide strategies for using group composition in music based interventions in dementia care settings. This project is sponsored by a full scholarship from the Duncan Norman Trust.

Michael Bryan

Ph.D. Candidate

Bio. Yiting graduated from Northumbria University Newcastle with a BSc in Psychology, and completed an MA in Applied Psychology of Music at the University of Leeds. Towards the end of my Masters' study, She volunteered as a research assistant for an AHRC funded research that explores music listening behaviours of people with hearing aids. After returning to her hometown in Malaysia, she first took up the position of an early childhood educator, and then a Psychology lecturership teaching Quantitative Research Methods in Psychology and the Psychology of Music. Research. My main research interest is the effect on music listening on cognitive performance, and particularly how melodies influence thought processes. My current project main focus on the study of the interctions between musical aesthetics and cognitive inhibition/flexibility. In the long-run, I plan to devote my research towards understanding the science behind various brain functionings in response to music, as well as how music shapes people's identity and mental schema.

Yiting Cheah

Ph.D. Candidate

Dr Chris Dowrick

Professor of Primary Medical Care

Institute of Population Health Sciences
University of Liverpool

Dr Ross White

Reader in Clinical Psychology

Institute of Life and Human Sciences
University of Liverpool

Dr Yannis Goulermas

Professor of Computer Science

Department of Computing
University of Liverpool

Dr Kris D'Aout

Senior Lecturer in

Musculoskeletal Biology

Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease
University of Liverpool

Dr Jonathon O'Brien

Occupational Therapy

School of Health Sciences
University of Liverpool

Miss Tamaya Van Criekinge

Ph.D candicate

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences & Physiotherapy
University of Antwerp

Music in Everyday Life

Music and Mental Health

Music, Emotion & Cognition

Automated Music Composition

Music Recommendation Systems

Music Emotion Recognition

Doctoral Students

Affiliated Researchers

Collaborators