I am Professor and Head of the School of Arts, having joined York St John University in October 2022. I am also a Visiting Professor of Artistic Research and Music Education at Lulea Technical University in Sweden (since 2020). I am a musician, trumpeter, singer, musicologist, choreomusicologist, translation theorist and educational researcher, with a particular interest in:
- Music and Translation.
- Multimodal Translation (Music, Dance, Drama, Film, Sculpture).
- Choreomusicology.
- Women and Leadership.
- Inclusive Music, Art and Design Education.
- Collaboration, especially between music, dance, drama, theatre, design, fashion magazines and sculpture.
- Soundpainting and Improvisation.
I am trustee of the York Music Hub, Principal Trumpet of the Aldworth Philharmonic and Broadcaster for Radio Wey.
Previously, I was School Head of Department for Performing Arts (Music, Dance and Drama) and Associate Professor of Music at Kingston University London, during which time I was also the Aurora Champion, TECHNE Training Lead for Doctoral Students, EDI LQBTQ+ subgroup lead, university level Athena Swan subgroup lead for self-assessment, and faculty subgroup lead for anti-bullying, anti-harassment and anti-discrimination. Prior to that, I was Head of the Department of Music also at Kingston University. I was Programme Director for Music and Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Music Research at Roehampton University before that. I began my academic career as part time lecturer in Music at Lancaster University. I have taught in schools, for adult education programmes, and supported a wide range of outreach activities across the arts.
I am founder (2018) and first co-chair (2020 to 2022) of EDI Music Studies Network, and previous chair/vice chair of Music HE (formerly NAMHE, National Association for Music in Higher Education, 2012 to 2022) sitting on the committee for 10 years. I've also previously been chair of Kingston Choral Society (2015 to 2018) and been Administrative Secretary of the Society for Dance Research (2006 to 2010).
I have received funding for my research, including: AHRC Network, Women's Musical Leadership Online Network (January 2022- May 2024); Arts Council, Women's Voice, Club Inegales (2020); and AHRC Network, Translating Music (2013 to 2014). In addition, I was Co-PI for Taking Race Live, funded by the office for fair access (2014 to 2018), for which we won the Rose Award for "Teaching, Learning and Assessment and Research" (2016) and we were nominated and became a CATE (Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence) Finalist of AdvanceHE (2017), and I latterly won the Student Award for Employability at Kingston University, Student Union Awards (2021).
I have taught across a range of modules during my career in the disciplines of Music, Dance, Drama, Theatre, Performing Arts, Creative Industries, Film Studies, Gender Studies, Product Design, Art Theory, Artistic Research and Music Technology.
I am an active doctoral supervisor, with more than 10 research degrees completions and with current students at York St John University, Kingston University, Lulea Technical University and the Erasmus University in Brussels. Current students include Gabriella Di Laccio (YSJU Scholarship), Tiana Harper (YSJU Scholarship), Mhairi Fox, Mary Murata, Michael Cox, Wayne Dawson, Pax Demir, Amanda Faber, Emma Haughton (AHRC funded), Ali Kiresci, Jenn Clempner and Georg Guylas. Recent completions include: Major John Martin, Debbie Moss, Grace Gates, Chamari Wedamulla and Mikael Backman. I have examined PhD vivas more than 20 times, and in many countries, though the majority have been in the UK, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada, across universities and conservatoires.
I have been an external examiner for programmes and validations many times, as well as sitting as an external for professorial interview panels. Recent external examiner positions include: University of West London (MA), Raffles Music College Singapore (MA), KM Music Conservatoire in Chennai India (Dip/BA), Middlesex University (Dip/BA), Reading University (BA/MA), Dublin City University (MA), Wolverhampton University (BA/MA). Recent validation panel positions include at Goldsmiths College London and Dundalk University of Technology in Ireland. I have led research assessments for a number of institutions as well, including Karlstad University, Sweden, and supported interviews externally most recently at ICMP SAE. I am currently in my 5th year an external panel member for the Royal Northen College of Music. I have also been performing confidential Mock REF activity for external institutions.
MA modules have included: Creative Entrepreneur, Researching Music, Critical Aspects of Performance, Performance Aesthetics and Philosophy, Music Education in the UK, Major Project, Musical Multimedia, Music and the Others Arts, and Critical Musicology.
Undergraduate modules have included: Individual Project, Music in Motion, Current Debates in Music Education, Paris: City of Light, Aural, Analysis, and Improvisation, Orchestration and Arrangement, Musical Multimedia, Research Skills, Musical Revolutions, Popular Music Revolutions, Foundations of Music, Music Theory, Collaborative Project, as well as some modules sitting in dance and drama, and others in gender studies and media.
I enjoy an active creative, professional and research life, which in most instances directly connects to my role as Head of School.
I have published 8 books: Music, Text and Translation (2013); Building Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Bridges: Where Theory Meets Research and Practice, co-edited with Pamela Burnard, Valerie Ross, Kimberly Powell, Tatjana Dragovic and Elizabeth Mackinlay (2016); Paul Dukas: Legacies of a French Musician, co-edited with Laura Watson (2019); Artistic Research in Performance Through Collaboration, co-written and co-edited with Martin Blain (2020); Music, Dance and Translation (2023); Teaching Music Performance in Higher Education: the potential for artistic research, co-authored and co-edited with Stefan Ostersjo, Gilvano Dalagna and Jorge Correria (2024); The Routledge Companion to Women and Musical Leadership: the nineteenth century and beyond, co-edited with Laura Hamer (2024); and The Routledge Companion to Choreomusicology, co-edited with Samuel Dorf (2025).
Articles have appeared in Translation Matters (2025), The Conversation (2023), Tibon (2021), London Review of Education (2017, 2019), Choreologica, European Association of Dance Historians (2013), Cahiers de la Société quebecoise de recherche en musique (2012), Ars Lyrica (2011), Dance Research (2009), Opera Quarterly (2006).
Book chapters have appeared (in addition to those in the above books) in Women and Leadership in the Creative Industries (2026), Multimodal Translation in the Arts (2026), Women’s Leadership in Music (2023), Routledge Companion to Applied Musicology (2022), The Intersemiotic Perspectives on Emotions Translating across Signs, Bodies and Values (2022), Opera in Translation: Diversity and Unity (2019), Translation and Multimodality Beyond Words (2019), Historical Interplay in French Music and Culture (2017), Routledge Handbook of Intercultural Arts Theory, Research and Practice (2016), Sound Music and the Moving-Thinking Body (2013), Erik Satie: Music, Art and Literature (2013), Bewegungen zwischen Horen und Sehen: Denkbewegungen uber Bewegungskunste (2012), La musique française: esthétique et identité en mutation 1892–1992 (2012).
I have also published many score prefaces, programme notes, book reviews, audio papers, conference proceedings, conference reports and consultation reports, as well as blog posts and articles outside of academic circles. I have broadcast on BBC Radio, including commentating on Eurovision across many regional stations since 2020, BBC Radio 3 (Proms 2021) and ABC Australia (2015), and I run my own Hospital Radio Show weekly, Helen’s Classical Journey, Radio Wey (since March 2020) having surpassed 200 episodes. I’ve also made films and been a collaborative and performative part of documentaries concerning my research on the inclusive curriculum and on the performance approach, Soundpainting. I still performance as a trumpeter actively.
My professional activity is varied and overlaps with my research and teaching/supervision.
I have been on the executive board for four charities to date (York Music Hub as trustee, Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra as trustee and secretary, Kingston Choral Society as Chair, and The Society for Dance Research as Administrative Secretary).
I currently volunteer for the NHS, as Radio Broadcaster for Radio Wey, based at Ashford, St Peter’s and Woking Hospital Trusts. I have often spoken on radio, for BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Surrey, BBC Radio Berkshire, BBC Radio York and others. I have also spoken at BFI events discussing the use of music in film.
I perform fairly regularly and tend to choose performance opportunities whereby educational activities and outreach are included. I am a trumpeter for the Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra, for whom I regularly lead the pre-concert talks and with whom we've had a few Arts Council Grants supporting outreach activity.
