Dr Georgia Volioti
Biography
I am a Lecturer in Music at the Department of Music and Media, University of Surrey. I am a graduate of Imperial College, London (first-class BSc Honours) and a graduate of Royal Holloway, University of London (MMus with distinction and PhD in Music). My PhD was funded by an AHRC doctoral studentship at the Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music (CHARM), supervised by Professor Nicholas Cook. My doctoral thesis combined empirical-analytical methods for the study of recordings with performance historiography and criticism. Following completion of my PhD, I was a visiting lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, where I taught on the BMus and MMus pathways, and I was also affiliated with the Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, where I supervised various undergraduate BA Music Tripos courses. Prior to my appointment at Surrey, I held a postdoctoral Fellowship at Humboldt University, Berlin, and I also undertook research at the Centre for Performance Science, Royal College of Music, London.
My research interests are multi-disciplinary and embrace musical performance studies, music psychology, music education, empirical musicology, historical and cultural musicology. Areas of research include analysis of performance, performance practice, cultural responses to the legacy of recordings, the media and materiality of recording technologies, listening practices, musicians' self-regulated learning, expressive gesture, and visual culture and music. I have published full-length studies as sole author in leading peer-reviewed journals including The Musical Quarterly, Music & Letters, The Journal of Musicological Research, and Musicae Scientiae. I have also co-authored publications stemming from collaborative projects (for example, recently, in Musicae Scientiae and Research Studies in Music Education) and further output is forthcoming from ongoing collaborative research. I have contributed essays to edited books (by Routledge publications) and my scholarly review articles have been published in the journals Nineteenth-Century Music Review, Musicae Scientiae, Empirical Musicology Review, and Psychology of Music.
I am an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK), and I have a Licentiate in piano performance from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London. In January 2018 I was awarded a Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Teaching Innovation Award. In February 2019 I was appointed Programme Director for Music.
Roles within the Department of Music & Media:
Current:
- Programme Director for Music BMus (2019-)
Previous:
- Senior Professional Placement Tutor for Music
- Departmental Disability Liaison Officer
- Admissions Officer for music BMus
Other University roles:
- DMM representative in HR Excellence in Research Committee (2017-2018)
- Researcher Development & Doctoral College Mentorship Scheme (2017-2018)
University roles and responsibilities
- Programme Director for Music BMus
Research
Research interests
My research interests embrace musical performance studies, empirical musicology, music psychology, music education, historical and cultural musicology. My research combines empirical approaches (quantitative and qualitative techniques) with historical contextual study to interrogate both technical and expressive dimensions of performance, listeners' aesthetic responses, and the role of culture in shaping our understanding of music.
Areas of research:
-
Performance analysis; performance historiography; cultural memory and identity in musical performance; landscape and music; visual culture and music; performance practice (especially piano repertoire); historical recordings; the media and materiality of recording technology; cultural responses to the legacy of recordings; performance as embodied knowledge; psychology of performance; quantitative and qualitative research methods; expressive gesture in performance; listening practices; musicians’ self-regulated learning; creativity in performance.
Professional & research affiliations:
- SEMPRE (Society for Education and Music Psychology Research) – registered member
- RMA (Royal Musical Association) – registered member
- PSN/CMP (Performance Studies Network/Centre for Music Performance, University of Cambridge)
- HEA (Higher Education Academy) – associate fellow (accredited via completion of postgraduate certificate in HE teaching)
Professional (peer-review) activity:
Publication peer-reviewer:
- I have acted as reviewer for the journals Frontiers in Psychology - Performance Science section (Open Access Journal, ISSN: 1664-1078), Empirical Musicology Review (Ohio State University, ISSN: 1559-5749), Music & Letters (Oxford University Press).
- I have reviewed academic books and commercial CDs for the journals Nineteenth-Century Music Review (Cambridge University Press), Musicae Scientiae (ESCOM/SAGE Journals), Psychology of Music (SEMPRE/SAGE Journals).
International conference committees:
- Lead director for Performance Studies Network Research Forum - New Takes on Recorded Music: Performance, Creativity, Technology, University of Surrey, 5-6 September 2019.
- Member of scientific committee and reviewing panel for Third Conference of the London International Piano Symposium, Royal Academy of Music, 28-30 October 2018.
- Member of conference committee and reviewing panel for the Tenth Biennial International Conference on Music Since 1900 and Surrey Music Analysis Conference (ICMSN/SurreyMAC), University of Surrey, 11-14 September 2017.
My teaching
Undergraduate teaching (Music BMus):
Current:
- Encountering Music History (MUS1031) contributor
- Nineteenth-Century Music (MUS2057) contributor
- Topic Study 2B (MUS2062) convener & main lecturer
- Topic Study 3B (MUS3082) convener & main lecturer
- Arts Policy & Practice convener (MUS2033)
- Professional Investigation convener/supervisor (MUS3068)
- Individual Project convener/supervisor (MUS3078)
Past:
- Understanding Music B (MUS1027) main lecturer
- Musicology A (MUS2046) main lecturer
- Musicology B (MUS2047) convener/supervisor
- Historical Performance Practice (MUS3072) convener & main lecturer
- Opera Studies (MUS3064) convener & main lecturer
- Dissertation A, B & C (MUS3055, 3056 & 3057) convener/supervisor
Postgraduate teaching (Music MMus):
Current:
- Research Training for Practitioners (MUSM048)
- Performance A (MUSM039)
- Performance B (MUSM040)
Topics taught include research methods, techniques in the study of performance, psychology of performance, performance as research
Past:
- Readings in Musicology A (MUSM056)
- Research Training A (MUSM054)
- Research Training B (MUSM055)
- Performance A (MUSM039)
- Performance B (MUSM040)
Student responses:
Opera Studies
"Module very well organized and prepared, clear structure". "Critical thinking was encouraged". "An accessible module regardless of one's level of familiarity with opera".
Historical Performance Practice
"A good classical music module! Becoming increasingly rare". "We were encouraged to think in a different way and it challenged my pre-existing ideas about performance practice". "It has encouraged me to become more open-minded as a performer which is really relevant to me".
My publications
Publications
(in press). Volioti, G. 'Rethinking Classical Sound Recordings: Creativities Beyond the Score', in A. Aguilar, E. Clarke, R. Cole & M. Pritchard (eds.), Remixing Music Studies: Essays in Honour of Nicholas Cook, Routledge Publications.
(2020). Volioti, G. & Williamon, A. 'Performers' Discourses on Listening to Recordings'. Research Studies in Music Education, published online 17 April 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X19899168
(2019). Volioti, G. Book review of 'Musicians in the Making: Pathways to Creative Performance', J. Rink, H. Gaunt and A. Williamon (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2017. Psychology of Music, published online 2 December 2019. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735619889009
(2019). Volioti, G. 'Expressive Gesture in Grieg's Recordings of Two Op. 43 Lyric Pieces: An Exploratory Principal Components Analysis'. Music Performance Research, vol. 9, 1-30 (ISSN 7155-9219).
(2018). Volioti, G. Book review of 'Staging History: 1780-1840', M. Burden, W. Heller, J. Hicks and E. Lockhart (eds.), Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, 2016. Nineteenth-Century Music Review, published online 2 April 2018. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1479409817000908
(2017). Volioti, G. 'Landscaping the Gaze in Norwegian Visual Art and Grieg's Op. 66 Folksong Piano Arrangements'. Music & Letters, 98/4, 573-600. https://doi.org/10.1093/ml/gcx114
(2017). Volioti, G. & Williamon, A. 'Recordings as Learning and Practising Resources for Performance: Exploring Attitudes and Behaviours of Music Students and Professionals'. Musicae Scientiae, 21/4, 499-523. doi:10.1177/1029864916674048
(2017). Volioti, G. 'Musing on The Past: Historical Recordings as Creative Resources of Piano Performance', in Cristine MacKie (ed.), New Thoughts on Piano Performance: Research at the Interface Between Science and the Art of Piano Performance (A London International Piano Symposium Publication, 2017), 65-86. ISBN: 978-164007055-4
(2017). Volioti, G. 'Re-imagining Operatic Objects: Commentary on "Phenomena, Poiesis, and Performance Profiling: Temporal-Textual Emphasis and Creative Process Analysis in Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera"'. Empirical Musicology Review, 12/3-4, 272-276. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/emr.v12i3-4.5957
(2017). Volioti, G. Recording review of 'Edvard Grieg, Lyric Pieces, Stephen Hough pf Hyperion 68070, 2015 (1 CD: 73 minutes)', Nineteenth-Century Music Review, 14/2, 275-277. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1479409816000422
(2016). Volioti, G. Book review of 'Expressiveness in Music Performance: Empirical Approaches across Styles and Cultures', D. Fabian, R. Timmers and E. Schubert (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2014. Nineteenth-Century Music Review, 13/2, 335-340. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1479409816000173
(2015). Volioti, G. 'Reminiscing Grieg: A Study of Technostalgia and Modulating Identities'. The Musical Quarterly, 98/3, 179-211. doi: 10.1093/musqtl/gdv005
(2014). Volioti, G. ‘Performing National-Cultural Identity: Rhythmic Gesture as the Phenomenology of the Folk’, in Nikos Maliaras (ed.), Proceedings of the International Musicological Conference the National Element in Music, 18-20 January 2013 (Faculty of Music Studies, University of Athens), 91-111. ISBN: 978-960-93-5959-7
(2012). Volioti, G. ‘Re-inventing Grieg’s Folk Modernism: An Empirical Investigation of the Performance of the Slåtter op.72, no. 2’. The Journal of Musicological Research, 31/4, 262-296. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01411896.2013.720914
(2010). Volioti, G. ‘Playing with Tradition: Weighing up Similarity and the Buoyancy of the Game’. Musicae Scientiae, 14/2, 85-114. doi:10.1177/102986491001400204
(2007). Volioti, G. Book review of Adam Ockelford, ‘Repetition in Music: Theoretical and Meta-theoretical Perspectives’, Ashgate (RMA Monographs), 2005. Musicae Scientiae, 11/2, 325-330. doi:10.1177/102986490701100208
(2007). Volioti, G. Review of 4th International CHARM Symposium, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK (12-14 April 2007), 'Methods for Analysing Recordings'. CHARM Newsletter, Issue 3 (2007), 5-8.
Conferences, invited talks and research presentations:
(2019). Volioti, G. Early Recordings: Past Performing Practices in Contemporary Research, Pushkin House, London, 22 June 2019. [invited panel chair]
(2018). Volioti, G. The London International Piano Symposium. Royal Academy of Music, 27-29 October 2018. [invited keynote speaker]
(2018). Volioti, G. Performance Studies Network Fifth International Conference. Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo, 5-8 July 2018. [conference research paper]
(2018). Volioti, G. Seeing and Hearing the Beyond: Art, Music, and Mysticism in the Long Nineteenth Century. Annual Conference of the Association of Art History. London, 5-7 April 2018. [conference research paper]
(2018). Volioti, G. & Williamon, A. 'Unlocking the Anxiety of Influence: What Performers' Discourses Reveal about Listening to Recordings'.The Listening Experience Database Project: Methodologies, Identities, Histories. The Open University, Milton Keynes, 6-7 March 2018. [conference research paper]
(2017). Tenth Biennial International Conference on Music Since 1900 and Surrey Music Analysis Conference (ICMSN/SurreyMAC), University of Surrey, Guildford, 11-14 September 2017. [Member of conference reviewing committee and chair for panel sessions on 'Film & Music' (12 Sept. 2017), and 'Music & France' (14 Sept. 2017)]
(2015). Volioti, G. & Williamon, A. 'Listening to Recordings: Perspectives on Practitioners' Habits'. The Listening Experience Database Project, Listening to Music: People, Practices and Experiences, Royal College of Music, London, 24-25 October 2015. [conference research paper]
(2015). Volioti, G. 'Three Levels of Vocality in Grieg's Piano Recordings'. PERFORMA'15, International Conference on Musical Performance, University of Aveiro, Portugal, 11-13 June 2015. [conference research paper]
(2015). Volioti, G. 'Working with Piano Rolls: A Musicologist's Perspective', presented as part of my collaborative research seminar 'Rollin' On: Pianola Grooves Uncovered', Music Research Seminar Series, School of Arts, PATS Studio 1, University of Surrey, 25 February 2015. [Research presentation linked to public exhibition, 'The Player-Piano and Pianola', part of The Guildford International Music Festival 2015]
(2014). Volioti, G. 'Who Cares What You Listen: Musical Recordings as Cultural Products of Creativity', invited by Prof. Paul Sowden (Department of Psychology) and presented at the ILLUME Research Seminar Series, Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences, University of Surrey, 17 July 2014. [invited research presentation]
(2014). Volioti, G. Eighteenth Biennial Conference on Nineteenth-Century Music, University of Toronto, Canada, 18-20 June 2014. [conference research paper]
(2014). Volioti, G. 'Performing Memory and Nostalgia with Grieg's Historical Piano Recordings', Music Research Seminar Series, School of Arts, University of Surrey, 22 January 2014. [research presentation]
(2013). Volioti, G. ‘Historical Recordings and Piano Performance’. The London International Piano Symposium, Royal College of Music, London, 8-10 February 2013 (Recipient of Music & Letters Trust Award). [conference research paper]
(2013). Volioti, G. 'Performing Norwegian National-Cultural Identity: Rhythmic Gesture as the Phenomenology of the Folk'. International Musicological Conference, The National Element in Music, University of Athens, Greece, 18-20 January 2013. [conference research paper]
(2011). Volioti, G. 'Between Tradition and Innovation - Whose Style Is It Anyway? An Empirical Investigation of the Performance Practice of Grieg's Slatter'. International Performance Studies Conference, PERFORMA'11, University of Aveiro, Portugal, 19-21 May 2011. [conference research paper]
Public engagement & knowledge exchange:
Conference organisation:
(2019). Main organiser of 2-day International Research Forum New Takes on Recorded Music: Performance, Creativity, Technology, University of Surrey, 5-6 September 2019. Event supported by: The Music & Letters Trust (external funder), Performance Studies Network, and Department of Music & Media University of Surrey.
Keynote address:
(2018). 'Reflections on Classical Sound Recordings: Prospects and Challenges for Performance Studies'. The London International Piano Symposium, Royal Academy of Music, 27-29 October 2018.
Public exhibition:
(2015). 'The Player-Piano and Pianola'. A public exhibition hosted in association with The Guildford International Music Festival. The Lewis Elton Gallery, University of Surrey, 9-18 March 2015. Exhibition co-organised and co-presented by Dr. Georgia Volioti and Professor Clive Williamson, artefacts and instruments curated by Denis Hall and Rex Lawson. The world of the pianola and reproducing piano is a fascinating world full of riches which have scarcely been recognized by musicians, scholars or the general public. This exhibition brought closer to the public rare and unseen artefacts of early recording technologies, historical documents (e.g., concert reviews, archival photographic material of the recording process etc.) and the sound of the reproducing piano and pianola. The event was complemented by a research seminar (on 25th February 2015, PATS 1, 4-6 pm), titled Rollin’ On: Piano(la) Groves Uncovered, which examined how pianola and reproducing piano rolls can shed invaluable insight into the performance practices of renowned pianists including Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Debussy, and Grieg.
Public pre-performance talks:
(2018). Pre-performance talk for Glyndebourne on Tour 2018. Invited by Beatrice Carey, Glyndebourne Education Department. New Victoria Theatre, Woking, 20 November 2018.
(2014). 'Verdi's La Traviata: A Pre-Performance Talk of Tom Cairns' Production', by invitation of Glyndebourne's dramaturg Cori Ellison for Glyndebourne Tour 2014, New Victoria Theatre, Woking, 29 October 2014.