The Inner Music and Wellbeing Network launch event took place on 11-12 July 2024 with an online workshop. International academic colleagues from humanities, arts, social science, and health science disciplines, along with partners The Sleep Charity and Elysium Theatre Company, met for the first time.
Day one featured a series of speed papers with each network member speaking for five minutes about their interest in ‘musical imagery’ (i.e., the awareness of a mentally generated representation of musical sound) and wellbeing. All network members were challenged to reflect on the question ‘If you had unlimited funding to do one project in this area, what would that project be’?
On day two, network members collaborated to identify research gaps regarding the relationship between musical imagery and wellbeing. Emergent themes include musical imagery and sleep, pathological versus benign experiences of musical imagery, and cultural and societal differences and similarities in how people relate to their ‘inner music.’
Research questions and guiding principles were co-created to underpin the network’s activities, which are set to include a series of thematic webinars, theatrical performance, and an international symposium.
The purpose of the network is to develop and sustain a new interdisciplinary research agenda:
- to enhance theoretical understanding of the relationship between musical imagery and wellbeing;
- to promote applied research to benefit clinical practice and lead to recommendations for health.