AIRS Milestone Document (Draft June 21/09)

Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing:

Development, Education, and Well-Being

SSHRC Major Collaborative Research Initiative

File:  412-2009-1008

June, 2009 (deadline)

Milestone Report

DRAFT June 21-09

Prepared by:

Annabel J. Cohen

AIRS MCRI  PI and Project Director

In Consultation with Team Leaders and AIRS Coinvestigators and Collaborators

Department of Psychology

550 University Ave

University of Prince Edward Island

Charlottetown, PE  C1A 4P3

(902) 628-4325 acohen@upei.ca

I.  PROJECT FRAMEWORK

This seven-year major collaborative research initiative aims to advance interdisciplinary research in singing (AIRS) through cooperation of over 70 researchers from every province in Canada and from more than a dozen countries on 6 continents worldwide. With the objective of understanding individual, cultural, and universal influences on singing and the influences of singing on individuals and societies, the AIRS researchers will focus on three themes: (1) the development of singing ability (2) singing and learning and (3) enhancement of health and well-being through singing.  The researchers will their share knowledge and expertise from numerous disciplinary perspectives, including psychology, musicology, music therapy, education, sociology, anthropology, folklore, medicine, and audio and computer engineering.  They will present and develop their work audio-visually using a digital library and virtual research environment (VRE), the foundations of which are already established at UPEI. Several common motifs integrate the collaboration: an emphasis on student training opportunities; an intensive schedule of meetings supported by electronic technology; and components of an AIRS test battery of singing skills woven through the research themes.  The research results will be disseminated through traditional academic means (journals, books, conferences) as well as through real world activities and settings (school curricula, homes for seniors, medical interventions).  Such dissemination will provide a foundation for decision making within education, health, culture, immigration, and foreign policy.

II.  RESEARCH THEMES

The three research themes are broken into sub-themes each of which will first be addressed by a complete literature review that will provide a foundation for empirical research, the gathering of both quantitative and qualitative data on human subjects, and the implementation and associated study of new programs involving singing. A brief description of each sub-theme precedes Table 1, which is a chart depicting all sub-themes, their leaders, members, number of students, the associated theory or techniques, activities to be carried out, deliverables, timeframe by yearly quarter (14 quarters over the time-frame of 3.5 years) and budget from April 1, 2009 to September 30, 2012.

Theme 1: Development of Singing and Comparisons with Speaking

In contrast to the attention that has been directed to language acquisition, very little has been directed to singing, yet the ability to sing develops along with the ability to speak.  A 3-dimensional approached will aim ultimately to outline a model of how singing does develop in every individual, taking into account perspectives from neuroscience to linguistics, using the most rigorous techniques available for determining the children's discriminative and motor capabilities associated with singing as well as sampling the broad range of skills associated with singing, some of which have language analogues.

1.1  Production and Perception: Laurel Trainor and Steven Brown will lead a program of research that begins in Year 1 as a basic inquiry into the relation between perception and production of singing and an investigation of the sensory and motor constraints on production accuracy. Years 2 and 3 will examine factors affecting singing development such as type of language (e.g., tonal vs non-tonal), formal training, environments (home, school, community), and cross-cultural differences, laying the foundation for  examining in Year 4 the correlation between singing and brain measurements using  EEG and MRI, as the basis of a cognitive neuro-social scientific model of singing development.

1.2   Multimodal analysis: Trehub and Russo will lead two major projects. The first examines coordination of movement between parents and infants in the context of infant-directed singing and speaking, and includes (1) measuring the extent of mirroring in facial and body coordination of parent and infant, through audiovideo capture (including cross-cultural comparisons), electromyographic capture, and analysis of eye-movements. The second project explores body movement and vocal production in development and will investigate cross-sectionally in children of 2-12 years use of the body in (i) imitation of sung target (ii) imitation of spoken target  (iii) singing familiar song (iv) interpretation of a sung target that conveys specific emotion. Other projects include parental categorization of ambiguous vocalization as song or speech, and  the acoustical, physiological and phonetic analysis of vocalization of the melody/intonation continuum.

1.3  AIRS global test battery. Taking advantage of the  MCRI 7-year time-span and the global reach that the MCRI affords, Annabel Cohen, with Canadian and international team members, will extend and refine a cross-cultural battery already piloted as the foundation of a longitudinal and cross-cultural study. The battery tests voice range, singing back the familiar minor third interval and other musical elements (scale, major triad), vocal creativity, ability to sing back a familiar song, and learn an unfamiliar song. Speech and language ability is captured at the beginning and end of the battery.   In contrast to the finer-grained analysis over shorter timeframes and focused cross-sectional comparisons within sub-themes 1.1 and 1.2, this arm of the developmental research will move quickly from a broader mantle in an attempt to map out a global framework.

Theme 2. Singing and Education

How singing can be taught depends on the natural acquisition of singing skills,  principles of learning, general best practices of education, and informed exploitation of new technologies including those that provide access to models of songs, meaningful contexts for songs, examples of vocalists, and examples of best teaching practices.

2.1  Learning to singing informally. Patricia Campbell (University of Washington) will lead the research on singing in informal settings, focusing on singing of the songs of one's native culture and songs of unfamiliar, non-native cultures.  The emphasis will be on children, and Dr. Campbell will also bring to the theme her expertise on creating song collections representative of cultures worldwide. In conjunction with ongoing exchange programs as well as special assignments, students will collect audiovisual recordings of best practices of informal learning and performance in various American native cultures and cultures in other parts of the world (Africa, Brazil, China, Iceland, Estonia, UK, Australia, as well as Melanesian, Polynesian, or Micronesian Islands, capitalizing on cultures and interests represented by AIRS researchers).

2.2  Formal training of singing. Darryl Edwards will lead a program of research on formal training, documenting what happens in lessons of students of different ages, and across different formal settings and cultures.  The research will take advantage of the successive years of the project, such that improvement in performance can be tracked and related to characteristics of pedagogical practice and the student-teacher relation.  As well, the benefits of electronic and computer training devices will be explored with the Extemporel Company.

2.3.  Teaching through singing. Andrea Rose will lead a program of research on the use of singing to teach non-musical content or curricula, be it messages to live by or standard curricula for example in social studies (with Martha Gabriel), or second language training (with Henrietta Lempert, Jennifer Sullivan, Nathalie Henrich).

Theme 3. Singing and Well-being

Happier people are healthier people. Researchers in Theme 3 are studying how singing can optimize well-being in the areas of social relations, and psychological and physical health.  Well-being is broadly defined as both subjective well-being (feelings of happiness and life satisfaction) and objective measures such as health status.

3.1 Intercultural understanding. Led by Godfrey Baldacchino and Lily Chen-Hafteck, researchers will examine singing in the promotion of cross-cultural understanding and the reduction of prejudice through four approaches: (1)  extension of Felix Neto's original quantitative studies in Portugal of a 3-month singing intervention, with the aim of replication and determining long term influences. (2) in a more qualitative study within Canada, China, South Africa, and Brazil, providing children in their classroom with four two-week music-cultural modules  from each of the four countries, and tracking the attitudes to these cultures in the short and long term within a multi-year 4-country-site experimental design (3) studying the resilience and fragility of songs and singing styles within minority cultures particularly within Islands where several researchers have expertise and connections  (4) studying the origin and maintenance of multicultural choirs such as Common Thread as the basis for development new choirs.

3.2  Intergenerational  understanding. Led by Rachel Heydon (Western Ontario), concepts from Heydon's past work on intergenerational art will be translated to intergenerational singing activities. Three interrelated  areas will be examined:

intergenerational interaction, opportunities for social and content learning, and the process of creating learning opportunities, that is, curriculum development (Heydon); aspects of curriculum including singing processes and outcomes and the role of singing in reminiscence (Beynon); and wellness and engagement outcomes (O'Neill). The group will develop a handbook such that such programs can be instituted in homes for seniors as well as within the family or other institutional context. Working initially in London, Ontario, the program developed will be further piloted in Seattle and Ottawa (Gick), and possibly then beyond.

3.3  Singing and Health. With a focus on the direct benefits of singing to psychological and physical health, Jennifer Nicol (University of Saskatchewan) will lead the examination of such  issues as (1) the relative advantage of active versus passive singing in hospital settings and homes for seniors, working with Bradley Vines on the West Coast and Young at Heart musical theatre group for seniors on the East Coast (2) a grounded theory explaining choir members' understanding of singing as a health promoting activity  (3)  the role that singing can play in providing enjoyable breathing exercises for chronic and / or terminal lung disease, with pulmonary physician Dr. Janice Richman-Eisenstat (4) the role of singing in high school retention, where education has direct health benefits (5) the benefits of singing for language rehabilitation of stroke victims (6) the role of singing in Alzheimer's disease and in normal aging The Alzheimer's Society of PEI, and Veteran's Affairs Canada will participate in this sub-theme

III. DISSEMINATION

Plans for dissemination include writing review papers as foundations for each of the 9 sub-themes; additional research articles, book chapters, journal special issues and monographs or books.  An Annual Meeting will bring team members together either through actual or virtual travel. Other workshops and symposia will be held at relevant conferences of other societies, specialized conferences directed to singing, or independent initiatives such as regional workshops focused on training such skills as pitch measurement. In addition, numerous other types of non-traditional means for dissemination  are listed in the original proposal and include annual community-academic workshops (one of which has already taken place), development of a documentary,  public singing events, development of singing games for children and an interactive musical map, and development of intergenerational and cross-cultural choirs or singing festivals.  The development of the AIRS digital library, and the AIRS web-site (virtual research environment), described below are key aspects of the dissemination plan.

AIRS Digital Library.

Led by Mark Leggott (UPEI) and Ichiro Fujinaga (McGill) a digital library will enable researchers to share audiovisual files from all three themes including text transcripts and researcher annotations.  A preliminary version of the digital library exists with examples  from Theme 1 of the AIRS test battery for children of ages 3, 5, 7 years and young adults who received in 5 monthly sessions  the 11 components of the battery.  Other uses for Theme 1 may include brain-images while singing, or audiovisual recordings of mother-infant singing.  For Theme 2, Education, the Digital Library will contain examples of good teaching, both formal and informal, examples of songs of various cultures and the cultural context of those songs. For Theme 3,  Well-being, the Digital Library will be used to share examples of (a) singing exercises that could assist lung patients, (b) established choirs as models for the creation of intercultural choirs,  and (c) intergenerational singing activities in senior homes, or in other settings. Entries originating in one theme can benefit research in another theme, for example the songs collected in Theme 2a Learning to Sing Naturally can be used by Themes 3a in the study of singing and cross-cultural understanding. The Digital Library team  in consultation with representatives of the rest of the project will develop protocols to be used by the entire team, and this common language will foster interdisciplinary communication. The structure of the digital library will reflect the research structure with three primary repositories, one for each of the research themes, and sub-themes, as shown in the central panel of Figure 1.

Figure 1. Screen capture of the Digital Library showing 3 primary collections (Development, Pedagogy, Well-being).  Border panels represent the Virtual Research Environment (VRE)  of the AIRS website.

AIRS Web-site (http://demoblade9.vre.upei/airs). A virtual research environment (VRE) using DRUPAL Open Source software provides a basis for communication among AIRS  members  well serves to inform the public  in accordance with various permission options. DRUPAL allows  each member of the team to submit content directly. The web-site is also the gateway to the AIRS digital library.  As seen in the left-hand panel of Figure 1, the structure includes a calendar, Team Description, (to include images of all participants with description  of who they are, their connection to AIRS, what they want from AIRS, and what they bring to AIRS), searchable bibliographic references through Refworks, related links.  A separate Student section will be established, as will a public face for the web-site.

Annual Meetings, Conferences, and Workshops

The highlight of the year is the annual meeting. For Year 1, this means the AIRS start-up meeting in Prince Edward Island in June. A UNESCO-AIRS symposium follows immediately after in July at the Phenomenon of Singing Symposium at Memorial University. Prior to the Annual Meeting, is an AIRS symposium at the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) focusing on each of the 3 AIRS themes and involving members of three sections of the CPA: Developmental, Health, and Cross-Cultural.  In October, an AIRS symposium will take place at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Acoustical Association. AIRS presentations will also be made at the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, and the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association. And this is even before AIRS is off the ground!  In Year 2,  2^nd International AIRS expert workshop will take place in conjunction with the 11^th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, in Seattle in August 2010. An AIRS presence is expected at the International Society for Music in Education to be held in Beijing earlier that year.  The annual meeting for 2011 will coincide with the Neuromusic 4 (location unknown).  An AIRS presence will be expected at the Vancouver International Song Institute, an Atlantic regional workshop in Prince Edward Island, and at least one other specialized workshop, as well as at conferences to which AIRS researchers would normally attend such as American Educational Research Association, Canadian  Association for Music Therapy, Ethnomusicology Annual Meetings, as a few examples.  In Year 4, August 2012, the AIRS MCRI mid-term review will bring the Advisory Board,  team leaders, other key investigators and representative students  to Prince Edward Island in conjunction with the  AIRS 4^th Annual Meeting.

IV. STUDENT TRAINING

Students are a key component to the research progress and they represent the future of the AIRS project as well as the future  of academia and society in general.  Hence, more than half the budget is dedicated to them. Still with over 70 research supervisors over a 7-year period, AIRS is careful to see that as much good as possible can come from the funds available.  Funding will be distributed to students via three mechanisms: (1) compensation in the range of $1000 - $5000 for research work focusing on the goals of AIRS, e.g., collecting data necessary for the  various research themes  (2) top-up awards in the range of $2000 - $6000 for students already partially funded  at their home university who are conducting theses related to the AIRS' domain (3) awards up to the SSHRC stipend limit ($8000, $12000, $15000 for undergraduate, masters and doctoral student)HRC through open competition within a theme.  Although not a student award,  a postdoctoral award to the SSHRC stipend limit of $31,000 in year 3 and 4  will be made for a research proposal most likely to advance the AIRS objectives. Travel awards will come from the separate student travel budget and students will be encouraged to present their work at the annual AIRS meetings, workshops or organized symposia. They will be encouraged to publish or co-publish their work. Student presentation awards will be available and will aim to maintain high standards of presentation and high exposure of student work to the faculty researchers.  Moreover, students will have first hand access to faculty experts of the AIRS team. The distribution and standards of awards will be governed by the Theme Committees, and overseen and guided by a Student Award Committee.  The advertising of the AIRS Student Award Competitions is viewed as one mechanism for highlighting the work of AIRS.

Students who stay with the project for several years will be offered opportunities to enter into exchanges across the AIRS network, involving exposure to experts, techniques, technology, issues, and cultures. Where possible, exchanges between universities will be encouraged so as to simplify the mechanics of moving from one locale to another. Reciprocal arrangements will be sought so that university fees will be based on the student's normal fees not those of the university being visited. Researchers at the following universities have indicated their willingness to receive students: University of Toronto, McGill,  McMaster, Ryerson, UBC,  UPEI,  Harvard,  Universities of Washington, Cambridge (UK), London (UK), Pretoria (South Africa), Tartu (Estonia), and Hokkaido University.

V. GOVERNANCE

Central management. The Project Director, Annabel Cohen, is responsible for the intellectual leadership of the team and for the integration of the program's different components.  She will usually participate in the organization of workshops and conferences, leads or chairs team meetings and encourages collaboration across projects.  She will also lead sub-theme 1c and may participate in any of the projects as they relate to it.  Administrative Project Manager (at least half-time) and a post-doctoral fellow with part-time administrative responsibilities, particularly in connection with partners will report directly to the AIRS Project Director. The Administrative Project Manager will track and facilitate  achieving goals as identified in the Milestone document and its more refined Gaant chart and will manage the budget and accounting .

Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is responsible for planning and policy and will meet bi-monthly by videoconference. Theme leaders will represent the 9 sub-themes. Where there are two theme leaders, both may attend meetings, but only one may vote.  For every meeting, each sub-theme must have representation.  Other committees to be represented by 1 vote on the Executive Committee are: Digital Library, Student,  Partner, Stakeholder, and Geographic. Including the Project Director, the Executive Committee includes 14 votes.  The Administrative Project Manager, and the PDF manager are ex officio, non-voting members.

Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is a smaller body, a representative sub-group of the Executive Committee which can efficiently address daily issues and report directly to and receive direction from the Advisory Board. It is represented by one person for each of the 3 Research themes (Frank Russo, Patricia Campbell, the Project Director, and the Administrative Project Manager, and the PDF Manager, the latter two who do not vote but to whom the stakeholders and students have direct input.

Stakeholders. Representatives of over two dozen organizations have expressed interests in the activities of AIRS.  These stakeholder groups include associations of music teachers, choral leaders and singers, choirs, researchers in music and psychology, and other aspects of human behaviour such as developmental and cross-cultural psychology. These groups are provincial, national, and international. For each stakeholder group,  an AIRS student  researcher will serve as an individual liaison  who will keep the stakeholder informed of AIRS' activities, and offer invitations to attend events and to provide feedback.  The stakeholders will be invited to join a Stakeholder Committee that meets twice a year providing feedback to AIRS on the importance of certain issues  and the relevance of AIRS findings from the stakeholder perspective.

Partners. The Postdoctoral fellow at the UPEI site will liaise with the dozen AIRS partners which range from companies such as Roland and Apple, having a vested stake in the music industry (which involves singing, singers, and song), arts and cultural establishments (e.g., Confederation of the Arts, ECMA, and Music PEI), and government organizations such as Veteran's Affairs Canada at the national level, and PEI Cultural Sector Council at the Provincial level. The partners will also form a group, with a volunteer chair facilitator (specifically Ms. Henricken-Eldershaw of Alzheimer's PEI).  The partners will be asked to join in management of certain projects, such as the application of computer technology to vocal education.  Partner letters received prior to 2008 have been reconfirmed and additional letters (have been received) from Roland Canada and the Acoustical Society of America. A non-partner contribution has been received from UNESCO for a particular symposium.

Advisory Board. Two full members of the advisory board are Professor Philip Smith, a former Dean of Arts at the University of Prince Edward Island. A Professor of Psychology he has  a vast amount of research  and  administrative experience (as chair of the provincial Cancer Research Board, and former member of the SSHRC Council). He has considerable musical training and parent of two young choristers.   Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt,  an eminent choral and vocal specialist,  and researcher at the Ohio State  University, is the President of the American Choral Director's Association  (22,000 members). She is a Canadian by birth and had taught at the University of Prince Edward Island in the Faculty of Music early in her career.  In addition, Professor Anna-Maria di Sciullo has joined the Advisory Board in an Adjunct capacity.  She is a linguist at UQAM,  graduate of MIT, and Project Director twice in succession of  an MCRI that focuses on the nature of grammatical asymmetry and its broad implications. The acceptance of  this special circumstance was confirmed by SSHRC in May 2009.  These three strong leader/administrators represent much of the disciplinary breadth of AIRS in psychology, health, music, choral, singing, culture, and  language. The specific experience of Professor di Sciullo with the MCRI, of Professor  Smith with UPEI and SSHRC, and Professor  Apfelstadt with singing and choir leadership  cannot help but  provide valuable advice and feedback to the AIRS team research team in terms of research, collaboration, integration, training, dissemination and large-scale project management and will provide external accountability.  The Advisory Board will meet twice annually and will receive an AIRS annual report from the AIRS steering committee. Meeting minutes will made available.

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The rest is not in the milestone document.

Adding Biographical Information

• Select “My Account”
• You will see a screen with your user name at the top, and below it some menu items
• Click “Edit”
• Look below and you can add a photo if you wish
  • Click “Upload a picture”. It seems to want a file ending in *.jpg.
  • Be sure to hit “submit” at the bottom whenever you want to store something.
• You need to give your password twice (once a confirmation) – you will see where to type it in
• Go back to the top and click “User information”
  • Here are the empty frames for your information. You can copy and paste something you already have, or something you make up especially, or just type right into the box. Be sure to click “submit” at the bottom of the page (scroll down) in order to save what you have types.
  • My example is at http://demoblade9.vre.upei/airs/user/8
  • This one from Reyna Friendly, a student, is a good example: http://demoblade9.vre.upei/airs/user/165

• 5. Below is the information that you will be asked to provide. Some of it has been previously been requested, but we have since asked for more specific information.
• Your full name
• Your research interests
• Your affiliation (e.g., Department of a University)
• Your full address ( for sending correspondence)
• Your professional background, e.g., degrees from various institutions and dates if you wish; other qualifications including past and present appointments and responsibilities. You may already have a bio that you can copy and paste into this.
• Your Research interests relevant to AIRS – this may be general and/or specific. You can identify specific research themes of AIRS
  • 1. Development
  • 2. Education
  • 3. Well-being.

To help you with this, I am providing access to a draft of the milestone document which outlines briefly the goals of the themes. Do not be alarmed if you do not see your name on this document. It will be there before the document is submitted, somewhere on pp. 8 and 9.

As well, do not be alarmed if your name is associated with a sub-theme that you feel is not the most appropriate. This can be changed. Please let me know.

• Go back to the bottom right hand menu (where you found “my account” before”.
• Click on “Group”
• You will see a list of groups come up, or perhaps only one group.
  • Look at Project Members group. There is a number there, e.g., 82
  • Click on the number.
  • Now you will see the users names of the members. Hopefully these are linked to the members names in an obvious way (I am trying to get the actual name of the person listed, rather than the username).
  • If you click on any name, you will see the corresponding profile.

Milestone Document Draft June 21-2009

AIRS Team Members:

Please read through this AIRS Milestone Document - 1st 3.5 Years  (pages 1 -10)

(See the pdf  attachment below - Note the 8.5" x 14" - legal paper page size - if you plan to print)

The document has been discussed with each of the Team Leaders.

Please see that your name is associated with the most appropriate sub-theme or sub-themes and if it is not listed, please inform Annabel Cohen (acohen@upei.ca)

If you have any comments or suggestions please direct them to the Team Leaderand/or to Annabel Cohen

Familiarity with and approval of this document should precede the Start-up meeting June 27-09.

Thank you.

Performance and song sharing - Volunteers

This form collects information from the members of the AIRS team who have volunteered to perform at the AIRS concerts of the evenings of June 28 and 29, or at Interludes in the program, or who are willing to share a song on other occasions, such as Sunday morning June 28.

If you require an accompaniest and will take up the offer of collaborative pianist Rena Sharon at the University of British Colulmbia it is necessary to send her the music and to communicate with her directly at Rena Sharon <nareana@interchange.ubc.ca>

It will be necessary to send her copies of your music immediately.

Opportunity for brief rehearsal at UPEI will be provided.

In the interests of representing variety and enabling many persons to participate, the number of songs to be

performed  would be limited for any one occasion (sadly, given the talent and knowledge represented)

thanks to all who will contribute to the conference in this important way

Post-conference Survey of AIRS Start-up Meeting Impressions

Please enter your impressions about the Start-up meeting at UPEI:

Poster and Paper Submission

Please complete the form at the following URL to provide information on the title, authors, and abstract for your poster or paper, adn other preferences

http://demoblade9.vre.upei/airs/node/333

Please complete this separately for each submission

Preliminary Program - Brief

AIRS Start-up meeting  June 27 - June 30, 2009   UPEI

Preliminary Program

Comments  and Suggestions Welcome

Background preparation. All AIRS participants will provide advance background information about themselves to be posted on the AIRS web-site (forms to complete still to be provided).  Attendees will have read this information and be familiar with AIRS team members prior to the meeting.  As well, key issues to be addressed at the meeting will be posted in advance by team leaders.

Saturday - June 27

2:30 - 4:30  Executive Meeting - Team Leaders, Student, Partner, Geographic, Stakeholder Reps

7:00 - 9:30  Plenary  Opening reception - Official Welcomes, Performance, Project overview from Project Leader,  and Theme leaders - Introduction of AIRS Researchers, Partners and representative Stakeholders

Sunday, June 28

9:00 - 9:30  Opening remarks and song exchange in the spirit of the project

9:30 - 10:30.  Plenary discussion of central issues of Theme 1

10:30 - 10:45  Refreshment break

10:45 - 12:30   Plenary discussion of central issues of Theme 2 and 3.

12:30 - 1:45  Lunch  (likely have one of members speak)

1:45 - 2:25   Digital library and the Virtual Research Environment -  Brief Plenary Tutorials

*2:30 - 4:15    up to 20 Poster or Research summary descriptions/lightning talks

*4:00  - 5:30   All Posters Displayed and Refreshments

6:30  - 8:00  Dinner together

8:00 - 9:30  Vocal or other entertainment, AIRS impromptu choir etc., followed by cash bar (Main lounge)

Monday June 29

9:00 - 10:15   Break into 3 theme, digital library, student & + Partner /stakeholder group

discuss implementation of goals / videoconference as needed

10:15 - 10:30           Refreshment Break

*10:30 - 11:30   Remaining Poster descriptions/ lightning talks

*11:30 - 1:30   Poster session and lunch

*1:30 - 2:30     4 Plenary talks

2:30 - 4:00  Break further into subgroups of each theme  1a, 1b,1c, 2a 2b,2c, 3a, 3b, 3c   Digital Library

4:00 -4:30     Within theme groups report back to each other: all Theme 1, 2, and 3 DL

5:30 - 7:00    Reception/concert at the home of the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island across from the board walk

7:15 - 9:00   Dinner (location to be announced)

Tuesday, June 30

9:00 - 12:00  Plenary:  Reports from the Theme Subgroups (video conference as needed)

12:00 - 1:00  Box Lunch

1:30 - 4:30      Team Leaders  - Wrap -up

Wednesday, July 1 Canada Day (http://www.tourismpei.com/index.php3)

*possibly open to registration by students and public in PEI (for AIRS dissemination mandate)

Program - AIRS Start-up Conference June 27-30, 2009 (Draft 4)

AIRS Start-up meeting  June 27 - June 30, 2009   UPEI

Draft 4 -  Preliminary Programme

Comments and Suggestions from AIRS Team Members Welcome

Background preparation. All AIRS participants will provide advance background information about himself and herself that will be posted on the AIRS web-site. (go to http://demoblade9.vre.upei/airs/node/341.)  Attendees will have read this information and be familiar with AIRS team members prior to the meeting.  As well, key issues to be addressed at the meeting will be posted in advance as the Draft AIRS Milestone Document. http://demoblade9.vre.upei/airs/node/343.   Please be familiar at least with the section on the sub-themes most relevant to you.  Not all members are currently named in the document (pp. 8 & 9 particularly), but will be included  in the final draft. Locations within teams may change according to team member's preference, and multiple locations are welcome.

Saturday - June 27

2:30 - 4:30  Executive Meeting - Lower Level of the Robertson Library - CMTC Research Facility

Theme Team Leaders, and Digital Library, Student, Partner, Geographic, Stakeholder Representatives

7:00 - 9:30  Plenary  Opening reception -McDougall Hall

- Official Welcomes, Performance, Project overview from Project Leader,  and Theme leaders - Introduction of AIRS Researchers, Partners and representative Stakeholders

Sunday, June 28 McDougall Hall Market Square

9:00 - 9:30  Opening remarks and song exchange in the spirit of the project

9:30 - 10:30.  Plenary discussion of central issues of Theme 1 Team Leaders

10:30 - 10:45 Refreshment break

10:45 - 12:30 Plenary discussion of central issues of Theme 2 and 3.  Team Leaders

12:30 - 1:45  Lunch   (Main Building Faculty Lounge)

Andrew Hankinson

Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Quebec, Canada

Drupal: Websites for the rest of us

1:45 - 2:25   Digital library and the Virtual Research Environment -  Brief Plenary Tutorials in Robertson Library building (Mark Leggott and UPEI Technical Staff  Digital Library Team).

Oral  Presentations and Posters (Theme 1 Development) - McDougall Hall

2:30  Simone Dalla Bella and Magdalena Berkowska 1.1* (*Number refers to AIRS-sub-theme)

Dept. of Cognitive Psychology, University of Finance and Management in Warsaw, Poland

Tone deafness disrupts pitch production in music, not in speech: A case study

2:50 Laurel Trainor, Rayna Friendly and Steven Brown 1.1

McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

Development of singing: The current state of our knowledge and an outline of critical questions

3:10 Simone Falk¹ and Tamara Rathcke² 1.1

¹Ludwid-Maximilians-Universitat, ²Munchen Germany University of Glasgow, UK

The speech-to-song illusion: experimental evidence

Poster Summaries  Sunday, June 28

3:30  Marju Raju (Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre), Eva Liina Asu (Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics) & Jaan Ross University of Tartu - Institute of Arts and Cultural Studies,

Comparison of rhythm in musical scores and performances as measured with the pairwise variability index

3:33 Nathalie Henrich Lucie Bailly, Xavier Pelorson & Bernard Lortat-Jacob

Speech and Cognition, GIPSA-lab, Saint Martin d'Hères, France

Physiological and physical understanding of singing voice practices: the Sardinian Bassu case

3:36 Annabel J. Cohen, Marsha Lannan, Jenna D. Coady,  Emily Gallant, and Annabel Cohen

AIRS and Department of Psychology, University of Prince Edward Island

Developing a test battery of singing abilities with lifespan application

3:40 - 4:10 Posters and refreshments McDougall Hall Street

4:10 - 5:30  Oral Presentations (Theme 1 Development)

4:10   Mayumi Adachi and Taichi Ando (1.1)

Dept. of Psychology, Hokkaido University, N10 W7 Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

A Japanese infant's vocal features in daily contexts of infant-directed speech and song: A case study

4:30  Simone Falk 1.2

Ludwid-Maximilians-Universitat, Germany

From song to speech? Infant-directed singing in the first year of life

4:50  Nathalie Henrich^1,2, Bernard Roubeau², Michele Castellengo^2,3, Bernard Roubeau² -

¹Dept. Speech and Cognition, GIPSA-lab, France; ²Service d'ORL et de Chirurgie Cervico-faciale, Hopital Tenon, Paris;  ³LAM-IJLRA, France

How to identify the laryngeal mechanism of a singing voice production  (1.2)

5: 10 Dr. Psyche Loui & Gottfried Schlaug (LT) - 1.3

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA

Neural control of vocal pitch production

6:30  - 8:00  Dinner together  - Andrews Hall - UPEI Campus

8:00 - 9:30  Vocal or other entertainment, AIRS impromptu choir etc., followed by cash bar

Organized by June Countryman and Sung-Ha Shin-Bouey, UPEI Department of Music

Steel Auditorium for performance  to Main Building Faculty Lounge Refreshments and Cash Bar

Monday June 29

9:00 - 10:15   Break into 3 theme, digital library, student & + Partner /stakeholder group

discuss implementation of goals / videoconference as needed

10:15 - 10:30           Refreshment Break

*10:30 - 11:45   Remaining Poster descriptions/ lightning talks

10:30 Andrea Emberly 2.1

Department of Music Education, University of Washington, Seattle,  WA USA

The role of media on song acquisition in South African Children

10: 50 Allan Vurma (Estonian Academy of Music and Theater, Tallinn) & Jaan Ross 2.2

Institute of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Tartu, Tallinn, Estonia

Observing a chameleon: How to bridge a gap between the voice training and its scientific description

11: 10 Nathalie Henrich, Sandra Cornaz, Nathalie Valle'e, Sandra Cornaz & Nathalie Vallée 2.3

Dept. Speech and Cognition, GIPSA-lab, 961 rue de la Houille Blanche, Saint

Martin d'Hères, France

Singing voice as a tool for improving the teaching/learning of a foreign language. The case of Italian speakers learning French.

Poster Summaries

11:30  Jennifer Sullivan  (2.2)

Department of Psychology, St Francis Xavier University

Learning and Singing: Song Intervention to Enhance Preschool Vocabulary

11:33  Martin Gardiner (2.2)

Dr. Martin F. Gardiner - 1.1, 2.3 and 3.3

Center for the Study of Human Development, Brown University, Rhode Island, USA

WORLearning singing skills: Effects on broader skill learning

11:36  Godfrey Baldacchino (3.1)

Institute of Island Studies and Department of Sociology and Anthropology, UPEI

The  AIRS Island Global Network for Research in Singing and Song

11.39   Rachel Heydon (3.2)

Faculty of Education, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario

Enhancing communicative learning opportunities through intergenerational art curricula: A multi-phase qualitative study leading to the AIRS research in intergenerational understanding

11:42  Jennifer Nicole (3.3)

Department of Counselling Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, CANADA

Title TBA

11:45 Stephen M. Clift, Grenville Hancox, Ian Morrison, Bärbel Hess, Gunter Kreutz and Don            Stewart

Sydney de Haan Centre, University of Canterbury, UK

What do Singers Say About the Effects of Choral Singing on Physical Health?

Findings from a Survey of Choristers in Australia, England and Germany

*11:50 - 1:15   Poster session and lunch  Monday, June 29

*1:15 - 2:30     Oral presentations

1:15 Prof. Lawrence P. O'Farrell (CI): Presentation (Long) - 3.1

Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada

Networking and Publication Outlets for AIRS

1:30  Dr. Lily Chen-Hafteck (CI): Presentation (Long) - 3.1

Kean University, New Jersey, USA

Effects of an Interdisciplinary Chinese Music Program on Children's Cultural Understanding

1:50  Prof. Stephen M. Clift Grenville Hancox, Ann Skingley, Ian Morrison & Hilary Bungay 3.3

Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, UK

Community Singing for Wellbeing and Health: Report on a Progressive Research Programme within the Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health, UK

2:10 Dr. Lauren Stewart (CI): ¹Lauren Stewart, ¹Susan Anderson, ¹Karen Wise & ²Graham Welch

- 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3

Department of Psychology, Keele, UK, ²Institute of Education, London, UK)

Psychology Department, University of London, UK

An Intervention Study in Congenital Amusia

2:30 - 4:00  Break further into subgroups of each theme  1a, 1b,1c, 2a 2b,2c, 3a, 3b, 3c

4:00 -4:30     Within theme groups report back to each other: all Theme 1, 2, and 3

5:30 - 7:00    Reception/concert at the home of the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island across from the board walk

7:15 - 9:00   Dinner (Confederation Centre of the Arts - tentative)

Tuesday, June 30   McDougall Hall

9:00 - 12:00  Plenary:  Reports from the Theme Subgroups (video conference as needed)

10:15  Coffee

12:00 - 1:00  Box Lunch

1:30 - 4:30      Team Leaders  - Wrap -up

Robertson Library, CMTC Lower Level Laboratory

Wednesday, July 1 Canada Day (http://www.tourismpei.com/index.php3)

Travel

• For those arriving by plane, the airport is about 10 - 15 minutes away from the University.
• The building to be dropped off at  is the New Residence (also called Andrews Hall).  Regardless of what building you stay in, you must stop here first, and this is where you will also obtain the final  program etc for the meeting.
• Taxis are usually available at the airport.  If not, there is a taxi phone line to call. Sometimes one must wait about 10 minutes.  The drivers will be familiar with the UPEI campus and know the central residence for check in.
• However, if you arrive just in time for the 7 pm Ceremony Saturday evening, please get dropped off at McDougall Hall. Someone will stay with your bags so that you do not have to take the time to check in and miss the Start of the Start-up at which all team members will be introduced.
• All meals will be provided for June 28th to noon on June 30th.  Also expect a substantial buffet (though not exactly dinner) on the evening of June 27th.  The campus is within 3 minutes walking distance of several two fast food outlets (Subway,  Burgher King), a variety store,  and just a few minutes further to several "real" restaurants (Smitty's, Mosaic, and East Side Mario's).
• The campus is between two small (by big city standards) shopping plazas, one of which includes an Indigo (Chapters) bookstore and a giant grocery store (Atlantic Superstore open from 8 am to 10 pm Monday to  Saturday and 12  to 6 pm on Sunday.   The real downtowis a 30 minute walk, 10 minute drive, and 15 minute bus-ride. There is a walking trail behind the campus.

Video on effective conference presentations

The following is a suggestion posted by Glenn Schellenberg of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition  on behalf of Ani Patel (SMPC President):

If you are (or know of) a graduate student preparing their first

conference talk (e.g., for the upcoming AIRS Start-up meeting), the following resource may be useful.

It’s a short video on giving effective scientific presentations.

http://www.scivee.tv/node/2903

Other meetings before the AIRS Start-up

VISI- Vancouver International Song Institute (see June Calendar)

HITS for Education in the context of Culture, Multimedia, Technology and Cognition - June 25 - 27

If you should arrive early in :PEI, another interesting conference going on focusing on media and education.

Several AIRS people are participating in it, and some of you may want to come and present a poster or give a talk or simply listen and participate. Reasonable accommodation is available on the campus for that as well (but not as part of AIRS).

the Phenomenon of Singing / Festival 500 - Memorial University  June 2 - June 12   (see June Calendar)