Dr Michael Bonshor
BA Hons, MA, PhD, PGCertTLHE, FHEA, FISM
Department of Music
University Teacher in Music Psychology
Course Director, MA Music Psychology in Education, Performance and Wellbeing
Full contact details
Department of Music
Jessop Building
Leavygreave Road
Sheffield
S3 7RD
- Profile
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I am Course Director of the University of Sheffield’s well-established Distance Learning MA in Music Psychology in Education, Performance and Wellbeing, for which we recently celebrated 25 years of successful learning and teaching. Other teaching roles include lectureships at University College, London; the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama; and Leeds Conservatoire, where I am Professor of Voice, Wellbeing and Performance Psychology.
In my early life, I had a career as a professional singer with international contracts, after which I developed a portfolio of work as a performer, piano accompanist, teacher, conductor, choral arranger, director and workshop leader. I also ran my own professional theatre company, opera group and jazz ensemble.
Previous teaching roles have included leading the Music and Wellbeing module at York St John University, voice and instrumental teaching in primary and secondary schools, and lecturing on Musical Theatre and Drama courses in Further Education. In my private teaching practice, I enjoyed teaching singers and
instrumentalists of all ages and abilities.
- Research interests
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For my MA research project, I explored performance anxiety in singers, and my PhD research focused on confidence building for singers and conductors. My book, The Confident Choir: A Handbook for leaders of Group Singing, has been published by Rowman and Littlefield International.
Ongoing research interests include performance anxiety management; confidence building for performers; music and wellbeing; voice and identity; choirs and other group singing activities; brass band playing; conducting and ensemble leadership; and group dynamics in musical contexts. I have a special interest in the practical applications of research, and regularly lead public engagement and training events based on my research, teaching and professional experience.
My research-informed practical workshops include group singing for people who self-identify as ‘non-singers’; voice training sessions for transgender and non-binary people; using singing-related skills to support people with respiratory conditions and vocal disorders; music and wellbeing sessions for mental health service users; musical leadership training; practical applications of performance psychology for singers, conductors and choir leaders; and developing confident performance in a wide range of musical and non-musical settings.
- Publications
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Books
- The Confident Choir A Handbook for Leaders of Group Singing. Rowman & Littlefield.
Journal articles
- Group singing-related technique workshops for people with inducible laryngeal obstruction: a feasibility study. Music & Science, 7. View this article in WRRO
- Collaborative learning and choral confidence: the role of peer interactions in building confident amateur choirs. Music Performance Research, 38-56.
- Wellbeing in Brass Bands: The Benefits and Challenges of Group Music Making. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(-), ---. View this article in WRRO
- Conductor feedback and the amateur singer: The role of criticism and praise in building choral confidence. Research Studies in Music Education, 39(2), 139-160.
- Confidence and choral configuration: The affective impact of situational and acoustic factors in amateur choirs. Psychology of Music, 45(5), 628-644.
- Singing in the Lower Secondary School by Martin Ashley . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. 216pp., paperback. £24.95. ISBN 978-0-19-335591-6.. British Journal of Music Education, 34(1), 115-117.
- Sharing knowledge and power in adult amateur choral communities: The impact of communal learning on the experience of musical participation. International Journal of Community Music, 9(3), 291-305.
- A Different Voice, A Different Song: Reclaiming Community through the Natural Voice and World Song by Caroline Bithell . New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. 351 pp., paperback. £23.49. ISBN 978-0-19-935455-9.. British Journal of Music Education, 33(1), 119-122.
- Book review: Advanced Musical Performance: Investigations in Higher Education Learning. By I. Papageorgi and G. Welch (eds). Psychology of Music, 44(1), 148-151.
- A History of Singing by John Potter and Neil Sorrell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 349 pp., hardback. £78. ISBN 9780521817059.. British Journal of Music Education, 31(2), 236-238.
- How High Should Boys Sing? Gender, Authenticity and Credibility in the Young Male Voice by Martin Ashley. Farnham: Ashgate, 2009. 194 pp., hardback, £55.00. ISBN 9780754664758.. British Journal of Music Education, 28(3), 396-397.
- Foundations in music psychology: Theory and research (Rentfrow & Levitin, Eds.) Reviewed by Michael Bonshor. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy.
Chapters
- Ensembles for wellbeing, Together in Music (pp. 191-199). Oxford University Press
Book reviews
- Book review: Oxford textbook of creative arts, health, and wellbeing: International perspectives on practice, policy and research. Psychology of Music, 45(6), 910-912.
- Book review: Playing scared: My journey through stage fright. Psychology of Music, 44(6), 1522-1524.
- The Confident Choir A Handbook for Leaders of Group Singing. Rowman & Littlefield.
- Research group
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I am co-supervising two PhD projects, both of which are funded by WRoCAH (the White Rose College of Arts and Humanities). In connection with this, I am a member of Singing in Balance: A WRoCAH PhD Network on Group Singing, Wellbeing and Health. The PhD topics under my supervision are:
● Exploring the use of singing-related skills to support individuals with respiratory conditions
● The benefits and challenges, for transgender singers, of participating in group singing activities
- Professional activities and memberships
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I am a longstanding Fellow of the Incorporated Society of Musicians (recently renamed as the Independent Society of Musicians) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Editorial roles have included reviewing for Routledge, Psychology of Music, the International Journal of Community Music, the Journal of Voice, Music Education Research, and Frontiers in Psychology: Performance Science. I have also been a trainer for the British Association of Performing Arts Medicine, and PhD examiner
for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.Other professional activities include membership of the Music Department’s Wellbeing, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability committee, and providing consultancy for Making Music’s INCLUDE project for increasing equity, diversity and accessibility in leisure-time musical participation.