You are here:

• Research
• Knowledge Exchange and Impact
• Research and Knowledge Exchange Centre
• Research at the University of Winchester
  • Faculty of Arts
    • News & Events
    • Research Centres
      • Centre for Research Into Communication, Culture and Media
      • Centre for Research into Language
      • Centre for Research into the Arts as Wellbeing
        • Community
        • Digital Embodiment
        • Holistic Movement
        • Spirituality
        • Music Research Institute
      • RED (Research into Expanded Dramaturgies)
    • Research Supervisors
  • Faculty of Business Law and Sport
  • Faculty of Education, Health and Social Care
  • Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Research news
• Research students

Music Research Institute

Here is an extract from the initial prospectus:

“Music has always played a central role in defining and expressing culture. It is capable not only of reflecting the face of society but also of influencing and enhancing how we live. Anyone who has experienced the power of this most vital of art forms knows how it can transform our existence and stir the deepest of human aspirations. In recent years this recognition has been reflected in worldwide developments across a broad range of disciplines, including education, therapy and medicine. Much of this valuable work is now supported by a growing body of scientific and experimental evidence.”

“In spite of these advances, there is a declining appreciation within our society of the importance of music to the human condition, not only its power to enliven human communication but also its ability to enrich individual achievement and fulfilment. Our present technological age provides ever greater access to music, and yet ironically it also relegates the arts, and music in particular, to the more limited role of peripheral entertainment.”

“In this country, there is no institution dedicated to the creation, stimulation and encouragement of opportunities for music to play a more central and beneficial part in our lives. The Music Research Trust has created an organisation to act as a focus for work already being undertaken in this field and encouraged new developments to be pursued – based on a determination to relocate music to the core of today's culture instead of its present position on the periphery.”

MRI aims to advance an appreciation of the beneficial role that music can play in the enhancement of human experience. To further this the MRI will seek to:

• Stimulate an understanding of how music can improve the quality of life.
• Promote and increase awareness of the value of music in education, medicine, therapy, science and business, creating opportunities for collaborative enquiry and practical experiment across these disciplines.
• Develop an authoritative voice representing these endeavours.
• Establish links with other individuals and organisations operating in related subjects.
• Encourage research in this field, including the creation, promotion and co-ordination of relevant research projects.
• Provide an international database of relevant research on the benefits of music and its processes.