Sempre 50th Anniversary Conference

Overview

Sempre was founded in 1972, growing out of the Reading Conferences on Research in Music Education that were started in 1966 by Arnold Bentley. Today, the charitable object of the Society is to ‘advance education and research concerning the psychology of music and music education for the benefit of people throughout the world’. This is achieved in three main ways: through publications (Sempre produces three journals in partnership with Sage Publications, Psychology of Music, Research Studies in Music Education and Music and Science, and a book series, Sempre Studies in the Psychology of Music, with Routledge); through awards that variously support early career researchers, travel in pursuit of defined research objectives, initiatives that cross disciplinary boundaries and attendance at conferences, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award; and conferences, both organised by the Society itself and in association with sister organisations all over the world.

Sempre’s 50th Anniversary Conference celebrated the field of the psychology of music and music education and took place in September 2022. The conference incorporated keynote addresses, presentations by Sempre 50th Anniversary Award holders and the winner of the Aubrey Hickman Award, panel discussions, spoken papers and poster sessions. Contributions were welcome from all areas of music psychology and music education.