Anne Cabildo at the MUSICONNEX Conference in Finland!
What do Swifties, nightclub dance floors, and Finnish rock bands all have in common? As it turns out, they all offer fascinating ways to explore how music connects us with one another!
Earlier this fall, I had the pleasure of attending my first conference in Europe at MUSICONNEX in Jyväskylä, Finland! Over three days, researchers from around the world came together to explore some big questions: How does music help us connect with ourselves and others? How can we study these connections across the mind, body, and different musical contexts? And where can we take the research next?
Each morning, I made my way up the (steep) hill to the main conference building for a day of talks, posters, and conversations about all things music, movement, and social bonding.I also had the opportunity to present my own research in a poster titled Exploring the Functions of Music in the Everyday Lives of Children: A Qualitative Study. In this project, we asked children aged 5 to 9 what they think music is for and how they experience it in their everyday lives. It was exciting to share children's perspectives with researchers who approach similar questions from so many different angles, and I came away with some thoughtful feedback and new ideas to consider.
One of my favourite parts of attending conferences is getting to meet the people behind the research I've spent so much time reading and citing. MUSICONNEX was a relatively small, close-knit conference, which made it especially easy to strike up conversations and make new connections.
Over the past four years, I've attended conferences focused on everything from auditory perception to development and cognition more broadly. Each has offered something different, but MUSICONNEX felt particularly special. With so much of my own research centred on understanding the role music plays in people's everyday lives, it was awesome to be surrounded by researchers asking similar questions about why music matters to us.
And, of course, getting to experience the beautiful scenery of Finland was a pretty wonderful bonus!
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