About Sempre
Sempre, the Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research, is an international learned society and charity.
Sempre’s goals
Sempre’s constitution states that it exists “to advance education and research concerning the psychology of music and music education for the benefit of people throughout the world”. We interpret that goal broadly, targeting support on areas where music, education and research are under-resourced.
Our vision
Music is at the core of all Sempre’s activities. Research shows that music is crucial for a healthy society, and Sempre aims to extend that research and translate its findings into recommendations that can bear on governmental and transnational policy.
Explore our leading journals
Partnering with Sage, Sempre publishes three highly ranked, peer-reviewed journals: Psychology of Music, Research Studies in Music Education, and Music & Science.
Psychology of Music
Psychology of Music, “the pre-eminent journal in the field”, is our longest-established title, publishing papers directed at increasing the scientific understanding of any psychological aspect of music.
Music & Science
Music & Science, our most recently-founded journal, is open access and aims to publish research from any perspective that engages with scientific approaches to understanding music.
Research Studies in Music Education
Research Studies in Music Education, now in its twenty-fifth year, promotes the dissemination and discussion of high-quality research in music and music education.
Our activities
Sempre promotes research in music education and psychology, publishing journals and books, sponsoring conferences, funding research and supporting national and international initiatives that help provide access to music and its positive effects on individual and social wellbeing. Our three highly-ranked journals, published with Sage, present cutting-edge global research; our book series explores key issues in how we use and understand music; and the conferences we sponsor bring together world-leading researchers to debate new research findings about music and its place in our world. We fund research through a range of competitive awards, primarily aimed at early-career researchers, and have supported numerous international projects and organisations focused on music and education.
Our impact
Our international projects over the past few years have involved initiatives in cultural education in India and Nepal; special needs projects in Pakistan, Haiti and Brazil; music for young children in Afghanistan; new support for post-earthquake survivors in container schools in Turkey, several projects on music for inclusion and literacy in Kenya, plus music education in Uganda and family support through music in Gambia. We have also funded a new music education and ecology programme in an underserved community in NE Brazil. We have been supporting ISME (the International Society for Music Education) in their regional initiative to enrich and promote music education in under-served communities in various parts of the world, originally launched in 2021. Recipients have been from Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa and US, this last focused on native Americans. Most recently, we have been working with colleagues from the ISME Research Commission to identify and support research-informed music education initiatives for underserved communities in Europe (Greece, Turkey, UK, Finland), South East Asia (India, Nepal), Sub-Saharan Africa (Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda) and the Americas (Brazil, Canada).
Sharing ideas since 1972
Sempre grew from a continuing series of conferences and was formally founded in 1972, producing the first issue of the journal Psychology of Music the following year. It joined forces with Sage to publish the journal in 2003, added Research Studies in Music Education to the Sempre/Sage portfolio in 2007, and established the open access journal Music & Science in 2018.
Join the Sempre community today
Joining Sempre gives you free online access to all three Sempre journals, discounts on registration costs at Sempre conferences, membership of an international and growing community of researchers and practitioners, and a say in the future directions of Sempre’s projects and activities.