Keynote Speakers

Image: Mustafa Beg

Prof Ian Cross

Biography

Ian Cross is Emeritus Professor of Music & Science, having retired in 2021 from his role as Director of the Centre for Music and Science at the University of Cambridge, where he led a dynamic group of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in exploring a wide range of scientific perspectives on music. His early work (e.g., Howell, Cross & West, 1985) played a significant role in shaping the study of music cognition, and he has since made influential contributions to the broad field of music and science, ranging from psychoacoustics of violins to the evolutionary origins of musicality.

Dr Jennifer MacRitchie

Biography

Jennifer MacRitchie is an interdisciplinary researcher with a background in electrical engineering, music, and cognitive science, currently holding a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship at the University of Sheffield’s department of music. She conducts research on the acquisition and advancement of cognitive and motor skills in instrumental performance, and the design of new interfaces to support music-making. The primary focus of this work lies in exploring how these skills can contribute to promoting health and wellbeing, particularly for older adults and for those living with dementia.

Prof Bruno Mesz

Biography

Bruno Mesz has a background in music, mathematics, and cognitive science. He is professor and researcher in art and cognitive psychology at the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, Argentina. His research explores cross-modal correspondences between music and taste, between music and smell, and between musical emotions and visual/tactile features such as shapes and materials. Also he has conducted research on how music modulates complex taste perceptions (such as those of coffee and wine), the aesthetics of multisensory experiences in virtual reality, and the impact of visual features on the evaluation of musical emotions.

Prof Catherine Stevens

Biography

Catherine (Kate) Stevens, a cognitive scientist, is Director of MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour & Development at Western Sydney University. Kate conducts basic and applied research through the temporal arts – initially music and, most recently, contemporary dance. She also applies methods from experimental psychology to investigate human-machine/robot/avatar interaction. Kate is author of more than 200 peer-reviewed papers. She is Editor-in-Chief, Music Perception (University of California Press) and Professor in Psychology at Western Sydney University.

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