Professor Helen Julia Minors

Teaching

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.

Research

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.

Professional activities

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.

Funding

Funding

I have been fortunate to receive a number of funding opportunities for research and teaching and learning activities over my career. A select few are below:

(2022-2024) Women’s Musical Leadership Online Network, AHRC Network grant submission, CI, with PI Dr Laura Hamer, £25,243.

(2020-2021) Women’s Musical Leadership Online Project (WMLOP), co-PI. https://fass.open.ac.uk/research/projects/wmlop Open University, £7,420, RES Engagement and Impact Fund, with Drs. Laura Hamer and Laura Watson.

(2020) Transcription funding for interviews with music industry women in leadership roles, with Laura Hamer, for Routledge Companion to Women and Musical Leadership £500 Open University.

(2020) CJ-ENM sponsored £20,000, BTS A Global Interdisciplinary Project, International Conference 4-5 January 2020, Kingston University, Conference Committee with Colette Balmain and Mata Ayoub.

(2020) Arts Council £15,000 with Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra, Planets, accessible performances, Reading Concert Hall, February.

(2019) Arts Council £15,000 with Club Inegales and Peter Wiegold, with 4 live pre-concert events I curated: 2nd May - Layale Chaker: Violin, baroque, Arabic and new music; 16th May - Rebecca Saunders played by BCMG Next: The music of Rebecca Saunders and new 'one-pagers' with this outstanding young ensemble; 30th May - Gazelle Twin: her amazing new album is Pastoral; 13th June - Jasmin Kent Rodgman: composer at LSO and British Council & PRS Foundation China Musician in Residence 2018/19. Successful bid.

(2019) IMR Conference Grant, International Women and/in Musical Leadership. Symposium for student bursaries, co-chaired with Laura Hamer, £500. Successful bid.

(2019) Royal Musical Association, Conference funding, International Women and/in Musical Leadership Symposium for student bursaries and venue hire, co-chaired with Laura Hamer, £500. Successful bid.

(2018) Inclusive Curriculum Bursary, £2000, successful June 2018, for dissemination of research from Taking Race Live. Successful bid.

(2014-2019) Principal Investigator, “Taking Race Live”, Office for Fair Access, Access Funding: staff-student partner pedagogic research – used as part of the TEF institutional case study 2017. Annual funding application for 5 years. Total funded over £40,000. ‘Taking Race Live’, in collaboration with Sociology, with support from Drama, Dance and Media, e.g. £11,762 (2014-2015, repeated 2015-2016), funds, repeated and increased (2016-2017), continued (2017-2018). It focused on using the performing arts to bring sociological understandings of race and ethnicity ‘alive’ for students. The inter-disciplinary approach enhances the learning of students of both disciplines, each discipline bringing their specialist methods, theoretical understandings and personal experiences to the learning process. In sum, the project aims to design and deliver engaging student experiences; make HE more accessible and inclusive; develop a sense of community and belonging; develop student and staff knowledge and capabilities (HEA Framework for Partnership in Learning and Teaching in HE, July 2014, p. 2). Successful bid.

(2016) Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra, bid to The Cultural Partnership / Reading Council, for Project, Pictures at our Exhibition (2016), part of the bid as an orchestra member and researcher. £2,500. Successful bid.

(2014) In Place, Erasmus+ Programme, Gruntdvig, ‘Soundpainting Workshops’, in collaboration with Ben Nid (Lyon University), Ceren Oran (Salzburg), Walter Thompson (Helsingborg), Samu Gryllus (Budapest), requested 50,000 euros to run 5 workshops utilising this compositional method to foster social mobility. Positive scores and feedback, unsuccessful.

(2014) Additional funding was given to Translating Music by the European Commission Language Officer to support events at Europe House amounting to £5000. Successful bid.

(2013-2014) AHRC: ‘Translating Music’ Translating Cultures Network Develop Call. May 2013–January 2014. PI: Lucile Desblache, CI: Helen Julia Minors, EU Partner: Elena Di Giovanni. Total: £28067.09. http://www.translatingmusic.com Successful bid.

(2011) Research Council of Canada £1000 Funding, flight, accommodation: Dance and Music: Moving Dialogues Conference, University of Montreal, McGill University, Société de recherché en musique, Concordia University and the
Observatoire international de la création et des cultures musicales, group application. Successful bid.

(2009) German Research Council £550 Funding, flight, accommodation, subsistence: Between Hearing and Seeing, University of Bayreuth, group application. Successful bid.

(2009) Research Council of Canada £800 Funding, flight, accommodation, subsistence, Francophone Criticism Network, at McGill University, group application. Successful bid.

(2008) Methodist Governing Body £2000 Funding for artist fees, accommodation, travel and equipment, Soundpainting, Walter Thompson Artist in Residence. Successful bid.

(2005) Royal Musical Association £300 funding: to support the study day, ‘Exploring Music Sources’. Successful bid.

(2004) Royal Musical Association £250 student research funding: to support travel to the University of Melbourne to deliver a paper (July 2004). Successful application.

(2004) Research Student Bursary, Lancaster University, £1000. Successful application.

(2003) Research Student Bursary, Lancaster University, £1000. Successful application.

(2002) Research Student Bursary, Lancaster University, £1500. Successful application.

(2001) Student Bursary, Lancaster University, £1000. Successful application.

Publications

I have published 8 books, many chapters, articles, book reviews, conference proceedings and reports, consultation reports, pre concert talks and programme notes and more. Below is a list of the books. Please see RAY for a more comprehensive list Minors, Professor Helen Julia - Research at York St John To view videos, performances, documentaries, performative projects, to listen to recordings and broadcasts visit Musicologist | Helen Julia Minors

(2025) Choreomusicology: Dialogues in Music and Dance, edited with Samuel Dorf, Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Choreomusicology-Dialogues-in-Music-and-Dance/Dorf-Minors/p/book/9780367630348?srsltid=AfmBOormV_UgdQ1uW13y-ovt-cIRbZxcYcK0a797wcASUcf2K9vWWIv9  

(2024) Routledge Companion to Music and Musical Leadership: nineteenth century and beyond, co-edited with Laura Hamer. https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Women-and-Musical-Leadership-The-Nineteenth-Century-and-Beyond/Hamer-Minors/p/book/9780367456764  

“The Routledge Companion to Women and Musical Leadership brings a fresh perspective to the growing body of research about women and music through its focus on leadership, and in fact it is the first volume of research dedicated to this topic. This spotlight on leadership allows the authors to articulate the broader effects of strategies to remedy the underrepresentation of women in many areas of musical activity and to examine these issues at an institutional level. This edited collection looks at women exercising leadership in many areas of music and from many different angles. The volume is strengthened by its wide-ranging dimensions, from the sixty-nine authors coming from throughout Europe as well as North and South America, Australia, and South Asia to the diversity of topics as well as varied methodologies utilized. The issues addressed move well beyond those most frequently addressed, e.g., composers, conductors, and performers to include women in faith and spiritual leadership roles (Jewish, Anglican, and different strands of spiritual music in India) and to advocacy and activism in music. From my outlook as both a musicologist and conductor—someone who has endeavored throughout my career to let each facet inform the other aspect of my work—this collection pays generous attention to both lived experiences and theoretical foundations. As someone who was intrigued by the conference, which fostered this volume, I look forward to its publication and to reading these new, fresh ideas.” J. Michele Edwards, Professor Emerita of Music, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN, USA 

(2024) Teaching Music Performance in Higher Education: exploring the potential of artistic research, co-edited y Helen Julia Minors, Stefan Ostersjo, Gilvano Dalagna and Jorge Salgado Correia. Open Book Publishers. https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0398 

“The breadth and depth of this impressive collection highlights the potential of artistic research in various higher education contexts and will inspire students and teachers to creatively thrive for many years to come. Universities so often insist on compartmentalizing theory/practice and (even worse) research/teaching into entirely separate silos, so it’s refreshing to read a collection of multifaceted ideas that configure any such apparent boundaries as porous.” Dr John Ferguson, Head of Creative Music Technology, Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University.

“Teaching Music Performance in Higher Education - Exploring the Potential of Artistic Research is an inspiring read, at least for anyone who is interested in leading HME into the future, with a concept that fits to the needs of the 21st century music world and labour market. The authors are courageous enough to experiment, explore and sound out the scope and limits of their own research concepts.” Stefan Giles, Journal for Artistic Research, 5 November 2024. https://jar-online.net/en/review-helen-julia-minors-stefan-ostersjo-gilvano-dalagna-and-jorge-salgado-correia-eds-teaching  

(2023) Music, Dance and Translation. London: Bloomsbury. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/music-dance-and-translation-9781350175754/ 

“This volume offers a new lens through which to understand the different creative processes involved in dance as an art form.” – Kara Yoo Leaman, New York University USA.

Publications continued

(2020) Artistic Research in Performance through Collaboration. Co-edited with Martin Blain, Basingstoke: Palgrave. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-38599-6  

“This is a valuable book that addresses the growing crossovers between academia and the professional arts sector, in specifically discussing collaborative research practices. The contributors extend existing discourses on collaborative practices and practice-as-research n the arts, considering in detail a range of artistic disciplines such as music, dance, theatre and the visual arts. The volume offers writing from various perspectives, importantly including those of practitioners and practitioner researchers.” – Stefanie Sachsenmaier, Middlesex University. 

(2019) Paul Dukas: Legacies of a French Musician, co-edited with Laura Watson. Routledge ISBN 9781138573246. https://www.routledge.com/Paul-Dukas-Legacies-of-a-French-Musician/Minors-Watson/p/book/9780367731021#:~:text=Description,broadly%20to%20the%20French%20scene).  

“…is the first non-biographical study of Dukas’s career in any language…  

Every chapter of this book will be met with warm interest by students of Dukas.’ 

Tadhg Sauvey, Nineteenth Century Music Review (2021). 

(2017) Building Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Bridges: Where Theory Meets Research and Practice, co-edited with Pamela Burnard, Valerie Ross, Helen Julia Minors, Kimberly Powell, Tatjana Dragovic and Elizabeth Mackinlay, BIBACC Publishing. https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/api/core/bitstreams/f1039c1d-622f-4b12-a28b-7ef8d259cd51/content 

(2013) Music, Text and Translation. London: Bloomsbury. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/music-text-and-translation-9781441173089/#:~:text=Description,limited%20solely%20to%20language%20transfer.

“All in all, this is a good and innovative contribution to the growing interest in music and translation, probably more comprehensive than previous monographs since it significantly extends the approach to intersemiotic translation and the visual arts, widening the perspectives of the study. The theoretical issues addressed and the case studies analyzed, some of which present really interesting and illustrative examples, prove that there is still a lot to research in the ‘marriage’ between word and music in the context of translation.” Marta Mateo, JosTrans, 23 (2015).

“This volume issues a powerful challenge to everyone who uses the word "translation" in relation to music. The sheer diversity of its essays demonstrates, as no previous book has, the extraordinary intellectual and artistic fertility of bringing together the notions of music and translation - and the dangers of thinking we know what we're talking about.” – Peter Dayan, Professor of Word and Music Studies, The University of Edinburgh, UK,

“This is a very rich and wide-ranging collection which combines real interdisciplinarity with a keen awareness of the current relevance of this topic to Translation Studies. The book is likely to give new energy to an already-lively field of research. Its store of fascinating detail and its blend of professional and critical input, from the world of opera in particular, should also interest admirers of opera, art song and other musical-textual forms.” – Carol O’Sullivan, Senior Lecturer in Italian Language and Translation Theory, University of Portsmouth, UK.