Communicative Musicality: Exploring the Basis of Human Companionship

Stephen Malloch is Adjunct Fellow at MARCS Auditory Laboratories, University of Western Sydney and works in private practice, counselling and coaching individuals and organizations around communication and the exploration of meaning. Having initially studied performance and musicology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Stephen completed his Masters at King's College, London, then went on to complete his PhD in music analysis and psychoacoustics at the Universityof Edinburgh. The theory of Communicative Musicality was born from research Stephen conducted on mother-infant communication during his post-doctoral fellowship in psychology at Edinburgh. On his return to Australia, Stephen focused on research into post-natal depression, music therapy andcommunication between infants. Complementing his study of psychology, Stephen has practised and taught Buddhist meditation and now combines these areas of expertise. Colwyn Trevarthen, a New Zealander, is Professor (Emeritus) of Child Psychology and Psychobiology at the University of Edinburgh, where he has taught since 1971. He trained as a biologist, and has a PhD in psychobiology from Caltech. While a research fellow at the Center for Cognitive Studies at Harvard in the 1960s, he began research on infant communication that led to the discovery of the innate capacities for human intersubjective communication. His work at Edinburgh in the 1980s on thedevelopment of mother-infant interactions pioneered a theory of cultural learning. His published work covers neuropsychology, brain development, infant communication child learning, and emotional health and methods of education and therapy. He is interested in the natural motives and emotions childrenhave for learning in companionship, the effects of disorders such as autism and depressive illness, and how parents and teachers may best support needs of young children.