1256th OGM and open lecture
“Multisensory music:
listening by ear and eye?”
Dr Helen Mitchell
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
University of Sydney
Wednesday 6 September 2017
Union, University and Schools Club, 25 Bent Street, Sydney
Listening is regarded as the most fundamental way to engage with music performance but this is challenged by a growing body of research which suggests that sight trumps sound. Music is now widely recognised as a multisensory experience, and the challenge for music education is to absorb and include these recent research findings in the music curriculum. This presentation deciphered the complex perceptual skills required for listening to music performers. It described how new experiential learning strategies in music education can prepare future music professionals as critical thinkers about music performance.
Dr Helen Mitchell has a multidisciplinary background in music, as a singer, music scholar and music performance researcher. Listeners’ perception of sound quality is central to Helen’s music performance research. Her current work investigates how listeners recognise and describe individual performers’ sound identities, and how listeners ‘hear’ music performers to see to what extent audiences integrate audio and visual information to identify individual performers.
31 December 2025
Various face-to-face and online venues 
