International Symposium

What does it mean to imagine music? The Inner Music and Wellbeing Network will host its inaugural international symposium at Durham University, UK, 18–19 May 2026. The event brings together scholars, practitioners, and artists to investigate how imagined musical sound—whether intentionally imagined or involuntarily triggered—shapes emotional, cognitive, and physical states across diverse contexts. Specifically, the symposium will explore the intersection of inner music and wellbeing. 

‘Inner music’ refers to a mentally generated representation of musical sound. Examples include, but are not limited to, everyday ‘earworms’, clinical cases of musical hallucinations, and voluntary musical imagery, including within creative practice. Inner music is often rich in emotional, sensory, and motoric content, and is increasingly recognised in relation to practices of emotion regulation, therapeutic engagement, memory and identity, and personal expression. 

The network is led by Dr Freya Bailes (University of Leeds) and Prof Kelly Jakubowski (Durham University). Its mission is to foster interdisciplinary dialogue that links inner music with mental health, clinical practice, artistic innovation, and cultural experience. The disciplinary backgrounds of our core members span humanities, arts, social science and health science research.

The symposium is held in association with Sempre. 

The programme will be announced in early 2026.