PUBLICATIONS & EVENTS 2007-2025
2025 Royal Society of Medicine
On Sept 11th, 2025, the London International Piano Symposium will present a one-day symposium at the Royal Society of Medicine. The programme ― the first of its kind globally ― will draw upon cutting edge research presented by experts from the medical, scientific and musical communities. The objective is to provide a comprehensive account of what embodied learning in musical performance really means, that is to say that performance is not just a process of the mind, but may also be shaped by the body
2024 University of Chichester
February 22nd. Introducing Rethinking Piano Performance: The Embodied Mind.
2023 Chopin University of Music /Warsaw
‘Embodying the Music: A Performer’s Perspective’ was presented at the ISPS, Chopin University of Music & Medical University of Warsaw. https://event.fourwaves.com/isps21/abstracts/48fcbadb-8d27-4b1c-8f51-a5df31adc1e4
2023 Finland
‘An inquiry into the psychological wellbeing of piano teachers engaged in one-to-one tuition in higher music education: How trauma transfers in teaching’ was published in a special issue of the Finnish Journal of Music Education (FJME, December).
2021 Montreal/Canada
‘One-to-One Piano Tuition in Higher Music Education, MacKie, C. et al. was presented at the ISPS, McGill University, Montreal. https://event.fourwaves.com/isps21/abstracts/48fcbadb-8d27-4b1c-8f51-a5df31adc1e4.
2018 Royal Academy of Music, London
The above-mentioned article (2023) was based upon an interdisciplinary study― which was initiated by Cristine MacKie and hosted by the Royal Academy of Music― in which a semi-structured focus-group discussion involving twenty senior piano teachers from different musical institutions in ten countries, across four continents was facilitated following the viewing of John Schlesinger’s film Madame Sousatzka (1988)―an extreme example of the master-apprentice model, portraying the intensity of the teacher-student relationship during one-to-one tuition. Following the viewing, the aim was to inquire—from the teachers’ perspective, the factors which affect their psychological wellbeing during one-to-one tuition. The findings revealed an important link between the past experience and current wellbeing of teachers. This suggested that within the one-to-one teacher-student relationship, teachers were unable to disentangle their own traumatic experiences from their psychological wellbeing, and that they tended to teach as they were taught.
The panel which oversaw the discussion comprised Cristine MacKie (primary researcher & Director of the London International Piano Symposium (see www.londoninternationalpianosymposium); Prof. John Sloboda, Research Professor, Guildhall School Music and Drama, and Dr Sam Johnson, Clinical Psychologist at the Tavistock and Portman and NHS Foundation Trust.
2017 Reykjavik/Iceland
‘Time as Process – or the Pacing of Motion – and its Demarcation Rubato: A Means to “Shaping” Ondine by Debussy’. eds. Williamon, A; & Jonasson, P; was presented at the ISPS ,Academy of the Arts, Reykjavik.
http://performancescience.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/isps-2017-program.pdf
2013 Vienna/Austria
‘Mirror Neurons: Imitation and Emulation in Piano Performance’ eds. Williamon, A; & Werner, G;
was presented at the ISPS, University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna.
http://performancescience.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/isps2013_proceedings.pdf, 817.
2012 The Royal Ballet & London International Piano Symposium
In 2012, an interdisciplinary study (www.londoninternationalpianosymposium) between the Royal Ballet, and the London International Piano Symposium drew upon research by the neuroscientist Rizzolatti, amongst others, which shows that mirror neurons in the brain respond not only when a subject performs a given action but, more significantly, when the subject observes someone else performing the same action. On this basis, the Royal Ballet, and the London International Piano Symposium collaborated in a preliminary test of the relevance of this idea to musical performance. In it, a music analyst, a pianist, and a choreographer, and two dancers worked together to assist the pianist to control subtle increases or decreases in the pacing of the temporal flow of Clair de lune, by Debussy, c.1905, from one section to the next through imitation and emulation of the dancers’ movements. The study was later premiered at Covent Garden in 2012.
2009, London
‘Enhancing the Memory in Piano Performance: A Mind/Body Approach’, was presented at The Musical Body: Gesture, Representation and Ergonomics in Musical Performance, Senate House, University of London and Royal College of Music, 22-24 April.
2009 Auckland/New Zealand
With an award from Music & Letters and a further award from Staff Development at RHUL, she presented: ‘Controlling the Pacing of Retards and Accelerandos in Piano Performance: A Roller Coaster Solution?’ eds. Williamon, A; Pretty, S; Buck, R; was presented at the ISPS, Macquarie University.
http://performancescience.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/isps2009_proceedings.pdf , P.113
2007 Oporto/Portugal
With a staff development grant from Royal Holloway (RHUL), University of London, Cristine presented: ‘Science Meets Art: The Role of the Body and its Role in “Shaping the Music”’ eds. Williamon, A; & Coimbra, D at the first International Symposium on Performance Science (ISPS). Portuguese Catholic University https://performancescience.org/isps2007/#:~:text=ISPS%202007%20Program%20PDF P.85
For further details of the work of the London International Piano Symposium go to: www.londoninternationalpianosymposium.co.uk
Beyond the world of pianism, Cristine is acclaimed also by the academic food writer Alan Davidson in his Oxford Companion to Food (1995: Oxford University Press) as the definitive writer on the history of food in the English-speaking Caribbean. Her publications include Trade Winds (1986: UK, Absolute Press), and Life and Food in the Caribbean (1989: London, Weidenfeld & Nicholson).
For further details of the work of the London International Piano Symposium go to: www.londoninternationalpianosymposium.co.uk