I’m a Senior Researcher in Musicology at the Department of Music, Arts and Culture Studies. Originally from Montreal, Canada, I arrived in Finland in 2005 to study in a program called Music, Mind & Technology at the University of Jyväskylä. After completing the program, I went on to earn a PhD in Musicology. Since then, I have been active in research within the area of embodied music cognition, a branch of music research that focuses on the role of the body in musical activities. I am fascinated by how musicians move when performing and how dancers synchronize to the beat (and to each other) in different dance situations. I have worked for over 15 years with optical motion capture systems, which are housed in the basement of Musica. I am currently a member of the Centre of Excellence in Music, Movement, Body and Brain, where I work on a range of projects focused on dance and musical engagement across the lifespan.
As part of my teaching duties, I coordinate the Master’s Degree Programme in Music and Science. This programme is unique in that it explores music through psychological, health, and social lenses. It is less focused on how to make music and more on why we make music. The programme is also special because it is bilingual and offers students the opportunity to study and work in multicultural and multilingual settings. I also teach music technology, with a focus on music computing, synthesis, and novel musical controllers and instruments.
The Finnish Music Campus is a special environment where specialists from many domains come together to study the role of music in modern life, and I am excited to be part of it. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions!