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In a year when the nurturing power of music is its theme, the School of Music is welcoming the most diverse range of students in its history.

New Head of School Alan Lourens hopes that the chance to study music will nurture some of the state's highest achieving students, as a prelude to studying medicine, law and other professional degrees.

Before New Courses 2012, these students were unable to take any music units, unless they combined their studies with a complete arts degree.

"Something I passionately believe is that students who study music benefit from expressing another side to their emotions," Associate Professor Lourens said. "We know this assists them in all the things we value in society. Music helps express the inexpressible and uses different parts of the brain."

The brain and the music it can produce was one of the highlights of a combined national conference hosted by the School of Music over the summer. The Power of Music was chaired by Callaway Professor Jane Davidson and the 300 delegates representing 26 nationalities covered a range of disciplines from music therapy and psychology and music philosophy and sociology to popular music.

One of the highlights was brain music, presented by a team of three Japanese researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, the Tokyo University of the Arts and the University of Tsukuba.

Their musical performance, It's almost a song , transformed brain wave patterns of imagined musical chords into structured music. While previous brain-wave-generated music converted electro encephalograph (EEG ) signals directly into sound, the performers using this new system are able to control and play music by imagining a sequence of musical chords, a fundamental music structure.

"After celebrating the power of music, this year we are exploring the fact that humans are musical by nature and deeply affected by nurturing," Professor Davidson said. "The degree to which we fulfill our musical potential depends on a plethora of complexly interacting A year of music fosters potential doctors, lawyers, engineers experiences and influences, including nurturing."

The theme runs through performances and events including the School's Teddy Bears' Picnics , one in each semester, which encourage young children to engage in the joys of music. The first of these is scheduled for 1 April.

The nature-nurture theme continues through the singing workshop, So you think you can't sing (5 and 6 May), run in conjunction with UWA Extension, and a short version of Handel's last opera, Xerxes, directed by Grammy award winner Andrew Lawrence-King. The opera, to be staged in September, is a collaboration between the School's department of vocal studies, Perth Baroque and the ARC Centre for Excellence for the History of Emotions.

Professor Davidson is a Deputy Director of the Centre and the School's international guest lecture series is dominated by jointly-badged lectures. On 8 May, the Centre's Una McIlvenna will explore emotional responses to public execution in the early modern period, looking specifically at the use of song and verse in accounts of crime and execution across Europe. In August, Dr Penelope Woods will present on musical emotions on the Shakespearean stage.

As well as the lecture series, the School of Music stages up to a dozen events each month this year, including concerts and workshops featuring staff, students and guests.

The Artistry series begins with a partnership between the Winthrop Singers and a small cohort from the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, presenting some of the best-loved music of the classical period. Winthrop Professor Paul Wright and Professor Lourens will lead what is described as a program of heavenly music.

While Artistry features young emerging artists, the Keyed Up Recital series presents internationally distinguished artists, mostly in Sunday afternoon concerts. The season opens with Australian-born Europe-based pianist Cameron Roberts playing Beethoven's beloved Moonlight Sonata in Winthrop Hall on Friday 13 April.

Chamber music is a focus of the School and three chamber performances are scheduled for 2012, the first being the Juniper Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Paul Wright in the Callaway Auditorium on Friday 30 March. In August, Professor Wright, on his violin, and Associate Professor Suzanne Wijsman, on her cello, will accompany world renowned early music specialist American soprano Julianne Baird, who is also a guest of the Institute of Advanced Studies.

Percussion, brass, guitar and voice performances continue throughout the year, alongside the free Lunchtime Concert series. They are held every Thursday at 1.10pm in the Octagon Theatre.

For more information on School of Music events for 2012, email [email protected]. au or pop into the School and pick up their impressive 2012 program, Walk in my Shoes .

Professor Lourens invites all staff to "come walk in the shoes of these musicians as they share their journey."

Published in UWA News , 5 March 2012