U.Va.'s Kubovy and Shatin on 'Music and the Brain' at The Library of Congress

Judith Shatin

University of Virginia music professor Judith Shatin and U.Va. psychology professor Michael Kubovy were invited to give a talk in the Library of Congress' "Music and the Brain" in March 2009.  Their talk, "The Mind of the Artist," focused on the semantic meaning of music.

The talk focused on how music expresses meaning beyond the sounds themselves. Shatin provided examples from her extensive oeuvre, ranging from chamber, choral and orchestral to electroacoustic music.

The talk is an outgrowth of their common course, "The Mind of the Artist," which they developed and co-taught three times at U.Va. They also have team-taught a seminar on the Psychology of Music.

Kubovy is internationally known for his research in auditory as well as visual perception. Shatin, whose "Tower of the Eight Winds" (for violin and piano) was recently premiered at the Library of Congress, explores the links between music, perceptual capacities and emotional responses in her works.

The Music and the Brain series was presented by the library's Music Division and its Science, Technology and Business Division through the support of the Dana Foundation. The series was created to highlight an explosion of new research on music and the brain.