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Alessandri Elena HSLU M

Dr. Elena Alessandri Elena Alessandri

Head of CC Music Performance Research

Alessandri Elena HSLU M

Lucerne School of Music

Room 404
Zentralstrasse 18
6003 Luzern


CC Music Performance Research

Head of CC Music Performance Research

Institute of New Music, Composition and Theory

Subject Specialist in Music Research

+41 41 249 26 42

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Biography

I am Head of the Competence Centre Music Performance Research at the School of Music, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and member of the Music and Wellbeing research unit, University of Sheffield. My research interests lie in the psychology of performance, sociology and psychology of music consumption, and the appreciation and evaluation of musical performance, with a particular focus on the ways in which listeners communicate their evaluative decisions.

I have a background in both performance and research: prior to discovering my passion for the academic work I gained a Diploma in Piano Performance and a MA in Music Pedagogy and worked for a few years as a pianist and piano pedagogue in Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

Following a period of training as research assistant at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, I gained a PhD in Performance Science at the Royal College of Music, London, with a project on the nature of critical review judgements of recorded performance partially financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss State Secretariat for Innovation, Research and Education.

My current work includes an investigation of the role of recorded performance criticism in the classical music market and its impact on the end consumers of recordings. The project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and run in collaboration with the Music, Mind and Machine Research Centre at the Department of Music, University of Sheffield.

Recently I have also joined in a series of interdisciplinary projects in collaboration with our School of Engineering and Architecture, with the aim of developing innovative infrastructural solutions to optimize music learning spaces.

Projects

Research projects

  • IDS Music Learning Spaces
  • Schule für Klappentrompete – Klassiktrompete
  • PrüfungsApp
  • Traits & States: A cross-sectional study of student wellbeing.
  • Between Producers and Consumers: Music Critics' Role in the Classical Music Market
  • Music rehearsal rooms – Acoustic solutions through room classification
  • Music Performance Assessment: Processes and Criteria
  • Evaluating Recorded Performance: Towards a general model of performance critique
  • LARA: Lucerne Audio Recording Analyzer
  • Evaluating recorded performance: An investigation of music criticism through Gramophone reviews of Beethoven’s piano sonata recordings
  • Performing Space – Perception from Practice room to Concert Hall

Publications and presentations

Publications and presentations - Article, review; peer reviewed

  • Senn, Olivier; Rose, Dawn; Bechtold, Toni Amadeus; Kilchenmann, Lorenz; Hoesl, Florian; Jerjen, Rafael; Baldassarre, Antonio & Alessandri, Elena (04.06.2019). Preliminaries to a Psychological Model of Musical Groove. Frontiers in Psychology / Performance Science, 10, 1. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01228
  • Alessandri, Elena; Williamson, Victoria Jane; Eiholzer, Hubert & Williamon, Aaron (2016). A critical ear: Analysis of value judgements in reviews of Beethoven’s piano sonata recordings. Frontiers in Psychology / Performance Science, 7 (391), 1-17. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00391
  • Alessandri, Elena; Williamson, Victoria Jane; Eiholzer, Hubert & Williamon, Aaron (2015). Beethoven recordings reviewed: A systematic method for mapping the content of music performance critique. Frontiers in Psychology, 6:57. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00057
  • Alessandri, Elena; Schuchert, Christian Lars & Lasauskaite Schüpbach, Ruta (2015). From the practice room to the concert venue: A preliminary study. Dissonance, (131), 28-32.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Eiholzer, Hubert & Williamon, Aaron (2014). Reviewing critical practice: An analysis of Gramophone’s reviews of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, 1923-2010. Musicae Scientiae, 18(2), 131-149. doi: 10.1177/1029864913519466

Publications and presentations - Article, review; not peer reviewed

  • Alessandri, Elena (2016). State of the Art. Jahrbuch der Hochschule Luzern, 2016/2017, 78-79.
  • Schuchert, Christian Lars; Reisinger, Markus; Fischer, Danielle & Alessandri, Elena (2014). Räume für Musik: Üben, vorbereiten, aufführen. Tec21, 37, 15-15.

Publications and presentations - Chapter/legal commentary/lexicon article

  • Alessandri, Elena; Eiholzer, Hubert; Williamon, Aaron & Williamson, Victoria Jane (2016). Evaluating Recorded Performance: An analysis of critics’ judgements of Beethoven piano sonata recordings. In Theodor Zanto; Ed Large (Hrsg.), Proceeding of the 14th International Conference for Music Perception and Cognition (S. 19-24). San Francisco (CA): ICMPC.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Williamson, Victoria Jane; Eiholzer, Hubert & Williamon, Aaron (2015). Value judgements in criticism of Beethoven piano sonata recordings. In Ginsborg, J., Lamont, A., Phillips, M., Bramley, S. (Hrsg.), Proceedings of the Ninth Triennial Conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (S. 1-2). Manchester: European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music.
  • Alessandri, Elena (2014). The notion of expression in music criticism. In Dorottya Fabian; Renee Timmers; Emery Schubert (Hrsg.), Expressiveness in music performance: Empirical approaches across styles and cultures (S. 22-33). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Eiholzer, Hubert & Williamon, Aaron (2013). Between producers and consumers: Critics’ role in guiding listeners’ choices. In Aaron Williamon; Werner Goebl (Hrsg.), Proceedings of the International Symposium on Performance Science 2013 (S. 671-676). Brussels: Association Européenne des Conservatoires AEC.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Cervino, Alessandro; Eiholzer, Hubert; Senn, Olivier & Williamon, Aaron (2011). Investigating critical practice. In Aaron Williamon; Darryl Edwards; Lee Bartel (Hrsg.), Proceedings of the International Symposium on Performance Science 2011 (S. 1-6). Utrecht: European Association of Conservatoires AEC.
  • Alessandri, Elena (2011). Discography or what analysts of recordings do before analyzing. In Claudia Emmeneger; Olivier Senn (Hrsg.), Five perspectives on "Body and Soul" and other contributions to music performance studies (S. 111-125). Zürich: Chronos Verlag.
  • Alessandri, Elena (2010). L'importanza dei preliminari: La discografia. In Massimo Zicari (Hrsg.), Ricerca e musica: Nuove frontiere (S. 81-99). Varese: Zecchini Editore.

Publications and presentations - Theses (Bachelor/Master/Dissertation/Habilitation)

  • Alessandri, Elena (2014). Evaluating recorded performance: An investigation of music criticism through Gramophone reviews of Beethoven piano sonata recordings. Dissertation, Royal College of Music, London, UK.
  • Alessandri, Elena (2008). Rapporto pedagogico sul percorso formativo dell’allieva Tatiana Tuor relativo all’anno scolastico 2007/2008 (nicht veröffentlichte Master-/Lizentiats-/Diplomarbeit). Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana, Scuola Universitaria di Musica, Switzerland.

Publications and presentations - Learning aids

  • Alessandri, Elena & Schuchert, Christian Lars (2013). From the practice room to the concert venue: preliminary results. ISA module Summer School - Ein interdisziplinäres Planungsspiel am Südpol. Lucerne.

Publications and presentations - Other publication formats

  • Alessandri, Elena & Baldassarre, Antonio (04.03.2019). Welche Rolle spielen Rezensionen für Klassik-Hörer? [Radiosendung]. https://www.swr.de/swr2/musik-klassik/Welche-Rolle-spielen-Rezensionen-fuer-Klassik-Hoerer,aexavarticle-swr-59956.html
  • Alessandri, Elena (01.02.2019). Klassik Aktuell [Radiosendung]. https://www.br-klassik.de/audio/gespraech-mit-elena-alessandri-100.html
  • Alessandri, Elena (31.01.2019). Musikzeitschriften haben es schwer [Radiosendung].
  • Alessandri, Elena (07.01.2019). Musikkritiker sind keine aussterbende Spezies [Radiosendung].
  • Alessandri, Elena (2019). Mit Lampenfieber zum Erfolg, HSLU Content Hub.
  • Alessandri, Elena (27.08.2018). Shéhérazade, Radiointerview über die Natur und Rolle der Musikkritik [Radiosendung].
  • Alessandri, Elena (22.05.2016). Was machen eigentlich Musikkritiker, wenn sie Musik kritisieren. SRF Kultur, Kultur Kompakt [Radiosendung].

Publications and presentations - Presentation (conference/report/lectures)

  • Alessandri, Elena; Rose, Dawn; Baldassarre, Antonio; Senn, Olivier; Szamatulski, Katrin & Williamson, Victoria Jane (06.09.2019). Is music criticism a dying art? Society for German Music Psychology Conference on Cognitive Music Psychology, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in Germany.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Baldassarre, Antonio; Senn, Olivier; Szamatulski, Katrin & Williamson, Victoria Jane (05.08.2019). A new perspective on classical music listeners: Consumers’ Habits and the Influence of Professional Music Review. 2019 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, New York.
  • Szamatulski, Katrin; Alessandri, Elena & Senn, Olivier (07.07.2019). Music Practice Rooms: Understanding students’ needs. Intercongressional Symposium of the International Musicological Society, Luzern.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Baldassarre, Antonio; Szamatulski, Katrin & Williamson, Victoria Jane (07.07.2019). Work in progress: Developing a model of criticism of classical music recordings. Intercongressional Symposium of the International Musicological Society, Luzern.
  • Rose, Dawn; Alessandri, Elena; Annett, Lucy E.; Greenhalgh, Andy; Hadley, Rebecca; Senn, Olivier & Whyatt, Caroline (17.06.2019). A pilot study investigating the feasibility of a drum circle intervention for people with Parkinson’s. 17th Rhythm Production and Perception Workshop, Park Palace Hotel, Traverse City, Michigan, USA.
  • Sandmeier, Nicole; Baldassarre, Antonio & Alessandri, Elena (23.07.2018). Evaluating Music Performance: Processes and criteria. ICMPC15/ESCOM10, Graz.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Amstutz, Sibylla; Sandmeier, Nicole & Schuchert, Christian Lars (23.07.2018). Music Learning Spaces: Assisting musicians in achieving excellence. ICMPC15/ESCOM10, Graz.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Baldassarre, Antonio & Williamson, Victoria Jane (23.07.2018). How do you listen? Music listeners' habits and purchasing strategies. ICMPC15/ESCOM10, Graz.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Sandmeier, Nicole & Baldassarre, Antonio (13.10.2017). „Great Performance!“ – Kriterien und Herausforderungen bei der Evaluation von Performance-Abschlussprüfungen. Internationale Arbeitstagung Repertoirebildungen und Kanonisierungsprozesse im Musikhochschulbereich, Luzern.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Baldassarre, Antonio & Williamson, Victoria Jane (29.08.2017). Music Critics on the Roles and Functions of Music Criticism. International Symposium on Performance Science, Reykjavik, Island.
  • Alessandri, Elena (09.03.2017). An Empirical Perspective on Music Criticism. 1° Jornadas do NEMI, Lissabon, Portugal.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Eiholzer, Hubert; Williamon, Aaron & Williamson, Victoria Jane (05.07.2016). Evaluating Recorded Performance: An analysis of critics’ judgements of Beethoven piano sonata recordings. International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, Fourteenth Biennial Meeting, San Francisco, California.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Eiholzer, Hubert; Williamon, Aaron & Williamson, Victoria Jane (17.08.2015). Value Judgements in Criticism of Beethoven Piano Sonata Recordings. Ninth Triennal Conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, Grossbritannien.
  • Alessandri, Elena (04.05.2015). Evaluating Recorded Performance: An Investigation of Music Criticism through Gramophone Reviews of Beethoven's Piano Sonata Recordings. Musik Talks, Hochschule Luzern - Musik.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Eiholzer, Hubert; Williamon, Aaron & Williamson, Victoria Jane (29.05.2014). A Systematic Method for Mapping Music Critics' Judgements of Recorded Performance. The Neurosciences and Music V - Cognitive stimulation and rehabilitation, Dijon, Frankreich.
  • Alessandri, Elena (11.03.2014). Reviewing Critical Practice: Gramophone Critics’ Judgements of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas. Grove Forum, Royal College of Music, London, UK.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Eiholzer, Hubert & Williamon, Aaron (28.08.2013). Between producers and consumers: Critics' role in guiding listeners choices. International Symposium on Performance Science, Wien.
  • Alessandri, Elena (10.11.2012). The ethics of music criticism. Annaul Congress of the European Association of Conservatoires AEC, St. Petersburg, Russia.
  • Alessandri, Elena (20.04.2012). Great Performance! Music and the validity of value judgements. Research Friday Lecture Series, Lugano.

Achievements

    • Alessandri, Elena. Review Editor. (01.10.2017). Music & Science.

    • Alessandri, Elena. Associate Editor. (2016-2018). Musicae Scientiae.

    • Alessandri, Elena. Associated Member. (2015). Music and Wellbeing Research Unit, University of Sheffield, UK.

    • Alessandri, Elena. Review Editor. (2014). Frontiers in Psychology, specialty section Performance Science.

    • Alessandri, Elena. Member of the Scientific Committee. (2014-2015). International Symposium on Performance Science 2015 (Kyoto, Japan).

    • Alessandri, Elena. Invited lecture. 'Reviewing critical practice:Gramophone critics’ judgements of Beethoven’s piano sonatas', Grove Forum Lecture Series. Royal College of Music, London, March 2014.

    • Alessandri, Elena; Eiholzer, Hubert & Williamon, Aaron. Conference presentation. 'Between producers and consumers: Critics’ role in guiding listeners’ choices', International Symposium on Performance Science 2013. University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, August 2013.

    • Alessandri, Elena. Invited talk. 'The Ethics of Music Criticism', Annual congress of the European Association of Conservatoires AEC. Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, St. Petersburg, November 2012.

    • Alessandri, Elena. Ethical dilemmas of performance evaluators. Invited talk, 'Ethical dilemmas of performance evaluators', Workshop The Ethics of Music Making. Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana, Monte Veritá, September 2012.

    • Alessandri, Elena. Invited lecture. 'Critica Musicale quale strumento di valutazione estetica', Art & Science Research Day. Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, March 2011.

    • Alessandri, Elena; Cervino, Alessandro; Eiholzer, Hubert; Senn, Olivier & Williamon, Aaron. Investigating Critical Practice. Conference paper, 'Investigating Critical Practice', International Symposium on Performance Science 2011. University of Toronto, Toronto, August 2011.

    • Alessandri, Elena. Invited lecture. 'The Ethics of Music Performance Evaluation', Musik Talks Lecture Series. Hochschule Luzern - Musik in collaboration with the Schweizerische Musikforschende Gesellschaft (SMG) Sektion Luzer. Lucerne, November 2011..

    • Alessandri, Elena. Conference presentation. 'Music Performance ID', 5th Swiss Innovation Forum. Novartis Campus, Basel, November 2010.

    • Alessandri, Elena. Conference presentation. 'Discography or What Analysts of Recordings do Before Analyzing', International Conference of Music Performance Analysis, Symposium 2: Methods of Music Performance Analysis. Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, June 2009.

    • Alessandri, Elena. Conference presentation. 'Why on Earth should a Musician do Research?', The differences of Art and Art research across the disciplines. Zürich, April 2009.

Achievements - Commissions, memberships and external activities

  • Alessandri, Elena. Review Editor. (01.10.2017). Music & Science.
  • Alessandri, Elena. Associate Editor. (2016-2018). Musicae Scientiae.
  • Alessandri, Elena. Associated Member. (2015). Music and Wellbeing Research Unit, University of Sheffield, UK.
  • Alessandri, Elena. Review Editor. (2014). Frontiers in Psychology, specialty section Performance Science.
  • Alessandri, Elena. Member of the Scientific Committee. (2014-2015). International Symposium on Performance Science 2015 (Kyoto, Japan).

Achievements - Other achievements

  • Alessandri, Elena. Invited lecture. 'Reviewing critical practice:Gramophone critics’ judgements of Beethoven’s piano sonatas', Grove Forum Lecture Series. Royal College of Music, London, March 2014.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Eiholzer, Hubert & Williamon, Aaron. Conference presentation. 'Between producers and consumers: Critics’ role in guiding listeners’ choices', International Symposium on Performance Science 2013. University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, August 2013.
  • Alessandri, Elena. Invited talk. 'The Ethics of Music Criticism', Annual congress of the European Association of Conservatoires AEC. Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, St. Petersburg, November 2012.
  • Alessandri, Elena. Ethical dilemmas of performance evaluators. Invited talk, 'Ethical dilemmas of performance evaluators', Workshop The Ethics of Music Making. Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana, Monte Veritá, September 2012.
  • Alessandri, Elena. Invited lecture. 'Critica Musicale quale strumento di valutazione estetica', Art & Science Research Day. Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, March 2011.
  • Alessandri, Elena; Cervino, Alessandro; Eiholzer, Hubert; Senn, Olivier & Williamon, Aaron. Investigating Critical Practice. Conference paper, 'Investigating Critical Practice', International Symposium on Performance Science 2011. University of Toronto, Toronto, August 2011.
  • Alessandri, Elena. Invited lecture. 'The Ethics of Music Performance Evaluation', Musik Talks Lecture Series. Hochschule Luzern - Musik in collaboration with the Schweizerische Musikforschende Gesellschaft (SMG) Sektion Luzer. Lucerne, November 2011..
  • Alessandri, Elena. Conference presentation. 'Music Performance ID', 5th Swiss Innovation Forum. Novartis Campus, Basel, November 2010.
  • Alessandri, Elena. Conference presentation. 'Discography or What Analysts of Recordings do Before Analyzing', International Conference of Music Performance Analysis, Symposium 2: Methods of Music Performance Analysis. Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, June 2009.
  • Alessandri, Elena. Conference presentation. 'Why on Earth should a Musician do Research?', The differences of Art and Art research across the disciplines. Zürich, April 2009.