We are delighted to be welcoming over 200 contributors and delegates (in-person and online) to the inaugural Music and Parental Wellbeing Symposium (MPWS) taking place at the Royal College of Music London and online on 22-23 July 2025. Please find important information below:
Full Programme and Information HERE!
Final Event Summary Schedule HERE!
Final Event Summary Schedule Easy Access version HERE!
To coincide with the Symposium, Music and parental wellbeing: A position paper – has been published open access in Music & Science. Please find HERE!
Please watch this space for further information and up-to-date changes. We very much looking forward to enjoying a rich and diverse programme together.
*ONLINE REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED!*
MPWS 2025 will bring together interdisciplinary and international delegates to advance understanding of how music can support parental wellbeing. The Symposium will include in-person and online joining options and there will be no registration fee.
The two days will include keynote sessions featuring Professor Lauren Stewart with Jaliba Kuyateh and Dr Bonnie McConnell; and Professor Helen Shoemark in conversation with Kirsty Jane. Please see below for full details. There will be a series of parallel sessions based on delegate contributions, digital poster sessions, breaks and discussion times, and a policy-facing panel and roundtable discussion. The event will see the planned launch of the alliance to push forwards future work on music and parental wellbeing.
KEYNOTE 1, 22 July 2025
Professor Lauren Stewart with Jaliba Kuyateh and Dr Bonnie McConnell
The Chime Project in discussion: Community health intervention through musical engagement for parents and their families in The Gambia
Perinatal mental health problems affect up to one in five women worldwide and are a particular challenge in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) where they can be at least twice as frequent as in higher income countries. It is thus of high priority to develop new low-cost, low-resource, non-stigmatising and culturally appropriate approaches to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression perinatally, for the benefit of both mother and child. Music-centred approaches may be particularly useful in The Gambia since a range of musical practices that specifically engage pregnant women and new mothers already exists. In this talk Lauren will discuss the partnership building approach within the CHIME project (Community Health Intervention through Musical Engagement), qualitative findings relating to the lived experience of perinatal mental distress in the Gambia, and outcomes relating to a feasibility trial that underpin a planned Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) that is in preparation. In addition, a video of an interview by Dr Bonnie McConnell with Jaliba Kuyateh will be played, discussing his role as a musician in health communication and promotion in The Gambia. Lauren will discuss the collaboration with him and musician Martin Lyrix King, in which new songs were written to specifically engage men in the process of supporting their wives during pregnancy.
Prof Lauren Stewart, School of Psychology, Roehampton University, has a background in cognitive neuroscience. She has conducted research into the perception, learning and performance of music, and the application of music to support health and wellbeing. She is currently co-leading the CHIME project (Community Health Intervention through Music Engagement), which focusses on culturally embedded musical practices and their role in supporting perinatal mental health, both in the UK and in Africa.
Jaliba Kuyateh is a Gambian musician, known internationally as the “King of Kora”. He plays music that mixes the sounds of this traditional West African stringed instrument with modern pop beats. Part of a family of musicians, his music has helped to bring the kora to an international audience in a career spanning over 30 years. Kuyateh previously worked as a schoolteacher and is known for his charity work with children. He has been an advocate for accessible healthcare in The Gambia and was made a UNICEF National Goodwill Ambassador for the country in 2006 and received an honorary fellowship from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2023.
Dr Bonnie McConnell, Associate Professor at the Australian National University, researches music’s influence on health, identity, and social change in Africa and Australia. With a PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Washington, she has conducted extensive fieldwork in The Gambia. Her book Music, Health, and Power earned Honourable Mention for the Society for Ethnomusicology’s Nketia Prize.
KEYNOTE 2, 23 July 2025
Professor Helen Shoemark in conversation with Kirsty Jane
Musical parenting with parents of a newborn in hospital
Hospitalization of a newborn is a stressful time during which we understand parents may experience high anxiety, grief and demoralization. It is a time in which the potential of music to create respite, reflection and moments of hope requires deep acknowledgment of their intersecting identities. This conversation will illuminate considerations in creating an experience of therapeutic restoration and growth with parents in hospital.
Prof Helen Shoemark is Director of Music Therapy at Temple University, Philadelphia. She has more than 40 years in the field as a clinician and educator. Her current focus is on musicality as an aspect of self-efficacy and explanatory modelling for music therapy in the hospital landscape. As an author she has published 40 articles and was co-editor of the book Music Therapy in the Neonatal Care: Influences of Culture. She has served as Associate Editor for the Journal of Music Therapy, and editor of the Australian Journal of Music Therapy.
Kirsty Jane is a specialist Music Therapist with enhanced knowledge in newborn behavioural observations and children’s palliative care. Kirsty developed the therapies service at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice and neonatal music therapy services that create therapeutic pathways from neonatal units at Great Ormond Street, University College London and Barnet hospital to hospice care. In June 2023 Kirsty was awarded an NIHR Doctoral Clinical Academic Fellowship to co-design a music therapy program to support key aspects of continuing bonds for parents with babies with uncertain futures on neonatal units. She is dedicated to increasing the acceptability and accessibility of psychological support.
If you are not already an alliance member and would like to join our free membership to find out about our future events and resources, please register below. Thank you so much for your interest in this important field and the work of the Alliance.