Alongside my academic research, I enjoy sharing ideas about music, synaesthesia and human cognition with wider audiences through public talks, podcasts, media contributions and collaborative projects.
Public Engagement
Cyber Eastern Music Festival II — London, August 2026
I collaborated with Nao Toyama and Professor Kelly Jakubowski (Durham University) on an audience research project at Cyber Eastern Music Festival II in London.
The project explored how audiences respond to AI-generated and human-composed music during live performances. This interdisciplinary collaboration brought music psychology research into a public performance setting and provided an opportunity to investigate musical imagination and narrative engagement beyond the laboratory.
Synesthesia Soirée 2.0 — Kautilya Foundation, December 2025
I was invited to speak at the Kautilya Foundation’s international online event, Synesthesia Soirée 2.0: Music and Synesthesia, on 6 December 2025.
My talk explored music–colour synaesthesia and the ways music can evoke imagined narratives, colours and forms. The event also provided an opportunity for discussion with participants interested in multisensory perception, imagination and creativity.
Breaking the Mold: Embracing Neurodiversity in Musical Thinking and Cognition — University of York, May 2023
I delivered an invited online talk for the University of York’s Music Cognition Matters series on 12 May 2023.
The presentation challenged assumptions that musical perception and cognition follow a single neurotypical model, drawing on my research into music–colour synaesthesia to explore the importance of recognising diversity in musical experience.
I also discussed these ideas in an accompanying episode of the Psychology of Music Podcast.
Colourama: An Exploration of Synaesthesia — Festival of the Mind, Sheffield, September 2018
Working with Professor Renée Timmers and producer Tommy Wilson, I contributed to Colourama, an immersive audio experience developed for Sheffield’s Festival of the Mind.
The project brought together first-hand accounts from people who experience synaesthesia, exploring how everyday sounds and music can evoke colours, shapes and other visual experiences.
The audio documentary was presented to festival audiences through individual wireless headphones, offering an accessible introduction to the diversity of multisensory experience.
Listen to Colourama below:
Media & Podcasts
Featured in the Leverhulme Trust Annual Review — 2025
My Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship research at Durham University was featured in the Leverhulme Trust’s 2024 Annual Review, highlighting research into music–colour synaesthesia and the imaginative experiences evoked by music.
Hold Onto The Colours Podcast
I have also discussed music–colour synaesthesia and my research through the Hold Onto The Colours podcast.
BBC Radio 3 | BBC Radio Sheffield
Previous media contributions include appearances on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Sheffield discussing synaesthesia and musical experience.
