Name: Joy Vamvakari

PhD Research Area: Music Listening, Health and Wellbeing

Department: Reid School of Music

Supervisors: Professor Raymond MacDonald & Professor Dorothy Miell

E-mail:  T.Vamvakari@sms.ed.ac.uk

Website: www.music-psychology.co.uk

Biography

Joy completed her BA in Music Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), during which time she also studied Anthropology of Music (Queen’s University Belfast), Ethnochoreology and Dance Anthropology (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), and undertook an internship at SkoogMusic Ltd.

She obtained her MSc in Applied Music Psychology at the University of Roehampton, where she conducted research under the supervision of Professor Adam Ockelford, exploring the role of music in the everyday lives of children and young people with Autism Spectrum Conditions.

Joy has experience as a community musician, collaborating with Professor Nigel Osborne (University of Edinburgh) and Professor Christina Anagnostopoulou (NKUA), and successfully organised and managed accessible music workshops during the 2011 Special Olympics World Games in Athens, as the SkoogMusic Ltd official delegate. At the University of Roehampton she acquired extensive research experience while working for the Transforming Assessment Pilot Scheme (HEA-funded) and the PICASA project (EU-Tempus), and contributed towards research which looked into the relationship between Alcohol and Gambling Behaviours (Alcohol Concern, Cymru). She has collaborated with the NKUA, as assistant researcher for the MIROR project (7^th Framework Programme, in collaboration with Sony Ltd), and is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Research Interests

Joy’s research interests are influenced by her academic background in anthropology and community music, as well as her upbringing as a bilingual, bicultural person, within a small ‘remote’ community. Her interests focus on accessibility of the Arts and Music, social equality, and the enhancement of quality of life, as well as education accessibility, and the enhancement of Higher Education Learning and Teaching practices.

Joy is a passionate advocate of bridging the gap between theory and practice, frequently taking up voluntary positions within a wide range of charities and social enterprises, such as the Alzheimer Society (Singing for the Brain project, UK), the Support Center for Children and Family (Athens), and the Therapeutic Riding Association of Greece (Athens). She also actively participates in training programmes devoted to increasing learning and accessibility, such as the ‘We volunteer, we learn’ INVEST project (EU-Grundvig) and the Europamobil programme (Bosch Foundation).

Her current research is exploring the relationship between music listening behaviours in everyday life, and health and wellbeing, aiming to gain insight into how music listening can enhance wellbeing and quality of life.

Musical Interests

Joy holds diplomas in theory of music, harmony, counterpoint, fugue and contemporary singing. She is a professional music copyist and translator of music texts (English-Greek) and has contributed towards music education and research publications.

Publications 

Research

Bohane, G., Guerrier, Y., Sakhuja, R. and Vamvakari, J. (2015). The Relationship Between Alcohol and Gambling Behaviours: A literature review. Alcohol Concern, Cymru. Accessible at: http://www.alcoholconcern.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Roehampton-Uni-research.pdf

Vamvakari, J. (2014). PICASA Survey: Being an International Student. Conference paper, University of Roehampton.

Adaptation and translation

Keffalas, M. (ed.) (in prep). Icaromenippus is ‘flying’ over our school – Black Light Theatre for Children. Athens: Panas Publications.

Adaptation and translation, production of original sheet music and audio recordings Keffalas, M. (ed.) (2013). 20 Braille music scores by Greek Composers. Athens: Panas Publications.

Keffalas, M. (ed.) (2010). Greek composers innovate – 36 Scores, Music For All. Athens: Panas Publications.

Keffalas, M. (2010). Rebetiko song in the elementary school. Athens: Filippos Nakas Publications.

Invited Lectures & Conference Presentations

Promoting Internationalisation in Higher Education: What do Roehampton students say? PICASA 2015 conference, University of Roehampton, London, February 2015.

Assessment and Feedback practices at the University of Roehampton: The TAPS project. Annual Learning and Teaching conference, University of Roehampton, London, June 2014.

Assessment and Feedback practices: The TAPS project. Annual Learning and Teaching conference, University of Roehampton, London, June 2014.

Promoting Internationalisation of HEIs in Eastern Neighbourhood Countries through Cultural and Structural Adaptations: What does internationalisation at Roehampton look like? PICASA core meeting, WUS Austria, Graz, May 2014. Accessible at http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/uploadedFiles/Pages_Assets/PDFs_and_Word_Docs/LTEU_Documents/Graz%20May%202014%20Joy%20%20Marisa%20presentation%20final%20to%20print.pdf

Assessment at Roehampton: Transforming Assessment Pilot Scheme and the Feedback Project. Assess for Success, Bucks New University, Buckinghamshire, March 2014.

Being a TAPS student intern at the University of Roehampton. University of Roehampton Programme Representatives conference and training, London, February 2014.

Being a TAPS student intern at the University of Roehampton. TAPS Core Meeting, HEA York, November 2013.

Assessment at the University of Roehampton. Student Senate Bi-annual meeting, University of Roehampton, London, November 2013.

Funding Awarded

2015-2018       Thomas Laing Reilly Scholarship in Music, University of Edinburgh

2012-2013       2025 Scholarship for academic excellence and a capacity to contribute significantly to the student community, University of Roehampton

2012                Erasmus Intensive Programme funding (IPEDAM), Norwegian University of Science and Technology

2010-2011       Erasmus Placement internship funding, SkoogMusic Ltd., Edinburgh

2009-2010       Erasmus Student Exchange funding, Queens University Belfast

Event Organisation

2015    Erasmus+ ‘Report your start’ Youth mobility and training programme, Organiser and Group Leader

2011    Special Olympics World Games 2011 Music Workshops for All, Organiser, Group Leader