Scientific knowledge provides pathways that allow us to recharge our brains after mental exhaustion. Learn about the source and current of our mental energy and how it’s depleted and replenished. Discover strategies that will maintain its lifelong flow and avoid the dangers of the “zombie apocalypse.”

Michael Nehls, MD PhD, is a physician and habilitated molecular geneticist. As a scientist, he deciphered the genetic causes of various hereditary diseases at German and international research institutions. Some of his discoveries have been published with Nobel Prize winners, and another was honored by the prestigious U.S. Association of Immunology as a "Pillar of Immunological Research." Dr. Nehls has also gained experience in industry. For example, he was VP of genetic Research at an US company for 3 years and then CEO and CSO of a Munich-based biotechnology company for 8 years. In the meantime, he has made it his task as a scientific author to shed light on the causes of civilization diseases and gives lectures at congresses and universities as a private lecturer.

Some situations are extremely scary for musicians and artists: entrance examinations, job auditions, live recordings, or performances on famous stages with large audiences. While many mental training techniques already offer valuable assistance, new approaches using virtual and augmented reality for stage fright training can easily boost and support imagination processes.

Matthias Bertsch is dedicated to interdisciplinary Performance Science (Acoustics - Physiology - Psychology). As systematic musicologist he teaches and researches at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) using a large variety of psychophysiological and acoustic tools in the „Motion-Emotion-Lab” to support musicians. In his current research project, he combines new 360/3D Virtual Reality visualization techniques, augmented audio with measurements of stress levels, and muscle activities (EMG, GSR). Since 2009 he is also President of the Austrian Society for Music Performance Medicine and Music Physiology (ÖGfMM).

Music practice, intelligently planned, affords learners opportunities to create experiences that present surmountable challenges, expend cognitive and physical effort, and reach rewarding goals, the accomplishment of which contribute to feelings of competence and personal satisfaction.

Bob Duke is the Marlene and Morton Meyerson Centennial Professor and Head of Music and Human Learning at The University of Texas at Austin, where he is a University of Texas and University of Texas System Distinguished Teaching Professor, Elizabeth Shatto Massey Distinguished Fellow in Teacher Education, and Director of the Center for Music Learning. He is also a clinical professor in the Dell Medical School at The University of Texas and was the founding director of the psychology of learning program at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles.

The development and application of solution-oriented psycho-physical tools in practicing can be considered crucial for mastering musical and technical challenges. Furthermore, focusing attention on solutions instead of possible or feared problems is motivating. On stage, mental extracts of the solutions found or summarizing subtexts are necessary during a musical sequence performed at the original tempo. These should also be adapted to the room acoustics and be retrievable at a mental tempo appropriate to the phrasing.

Horst Hildebrandt (Prof. Dr. med., MA Violin) studied violin in Freiburg and London as well as medicine in Freiburg. He continued his education in the fields of sensorimotor and psychomotor therapy, Dispokinesis, mental training, hypnotherapy and pain therapy. His professional activity as violinist includes his work in opera and radio broadcast orchestras, as first violinist of the Hilaros-Quartet and the Ensemble Aisthesis, and, starting in 1988, as a member of the Ensemble Aventure Freiburg. In addition, he has been teaching for over 30 years at music schools as well as lecturing at music universities and for orchestras. Hildebrandt is Chair of the MAS program in Music Physiology and the Music Physiology and Musicians’ Medicine Sections at the Zurich and Basel Music Universities. The main focus of his teaching and research are the fields of psycho-physiology, prevention and health promotion.

Which nuances of motivation do performing artists perceive on the colourful spectrum of self-determination? Both discipline and creativity are being valued as powerful driving forces in the performing arts, but to what extent are they compatible? In this presentation, we will use self-determination theory as a foundation for exploring what inspires and drives performing artists to practice, perform, and commit over time.

Veronika Lubert is a doctoral researcher in psychology and a university lecturer for motivation and self-regulation at the University of Vienna. Supported by a Marietta Blau grant, she currently works as a visiting researcher at the Swedish School of Sports and Health Sciences and at the Royal Northern College of Music. In her research, she aims to transfer knowledge from sport psychology to the performing arts by investigating interventions to enhance performance under pressure in music, dance, and acting. Holding degrees in both psychology and violin performance, she is also a performance coach and active violinist.

Sanna Nordin-Bates is an associate professor at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm and has researched and taught dance and sport psychology for 20 years. Sanna earned her PhD from the University of Birmingham, England, and is a chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society. She also has further education in cognitive behavioral therapy for elite sport and is a certified mindfulness instructor.

Themes surrounding student musicians’ increased motivation for change and learning after their participation in a comprehensive musicians’ health course will be presented, followed by a discussion of the implications for musicians’ health education content and implementation. A key factor, for example, was the students’ new understanding of the interdependence of psychological, physical, and artistic aspects for their improved well-being and occupational health literacy.

Dr Bridget Rennie-Salonen is an award-winning flautist and academic, Bridget is a sought-after performer, pedagogue, and musicians’ health practitioner. Her research and leadership in Performing Arts Health is ground-breaking for South Africa. Focusing on integrating optimal artistic performance with well-being and health promotion, her research includes musicians’ health education and health literacy, somatics, sensorimotor retraining, and performance psychology. Based at Stellenbosch University, Bridget holds certificates in Performing Arts Medicine and Functional Movement Anatomy. She is researcher on the international Musicians’ Health Literacy Consortium and commissioner on the International Society for Music Education. She chairs the South Africa Performing Arts Health Association NPO.

Sometimes it is easy to start regular exercises and sometimes we feel an inner resistance to do the same. What are the reasons for these different motivational states and how can we overcome the latter one?

Prof. Dr. Kurt Sokolowski. 1972 to 1977 Studies of Psychology in Bochum – 1976 Training in Behavior Therapy at the "Psychological Medicine Department" of King's College Hospital, University of London –  1977 Diploma in Psychology, University of Bochum - 1986 Dr. phil., University of Wuppertal –  1991 Habilitation in Psychology - 1992 Senior Assistant, University of Wuppertal –  1996 University Lecturer at the University of Wuppertal - Between 1992 and 2000 various professorships at the University of Osnabrueck, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, and Technical University Dortmund - 2000 to 2018 Professor for General and Differential Psychology at the University of Siegen.

In a mixed methods study, students were asked at what age they decided to study music and what motivated them to do so. The presentation of the results includes quantitative data on 350 international students as well as excerpts from the interviews with the students in the form of case vignettes.

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil. Claudia Spahn is a professor of Musicians' Medicine and head of the Freiburg Institute for Musicians' Medicine (FIM) at the Freiburg University of Music and the Freiburg University Hospital. She completed her medical studies and music studies at the University and the University of Music Freiburg. Medical doctorate and 2004 habilitation. Specialist in Psychosomatic Medicine, 2020 PhD in Systematic Musicology. She has been Vice President for Research and International Affairs at the Freiburg University of Music since 2017, and Director of the Freiburg Research and Teaching Center for Music since 2022. Her research focuses on music psychology (music performance anxiety a.o.) and health promotion for musicians (movement and body methods). She is the author of several textbooks in the field of Music Physiology and Musician's Medicine.

PD Dr. Manfred Nusseck is a research associate in the field of Music Physiology at the Freiburg Institute for Musicians' Medicine (FIM) at the Freiburg University of Music and at the Freiburg Research and Teaching Center for Music (FZM). He studied music and physics at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater and received his doctorate in 2009 in the field of neuroscience and cognitive science at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen. In 2019 he habilitated in educational psychology at the Freiburg University of Education with a focus on learning and teaching in music. In music-physiological research, his focus is on movement research and music-psychological issues.

Anna Immerz, Dr. phil., is a Professor for Music Physiology at the Freiburg Institute for Musicians‘ Medicine (FIM), University of Music Freiburg and represents the discipline in research and teaching. She studied music education, piano and German philology at the University of Music and Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg and worked as a teacher at a high school, as a répétiteur and choral conductor, and as an academic assistant in various research projects. In 2020 she received the university teaching award from the University of Freiburg. In 2021, she completed her dissertation on voice and biography of music teachers (summa cum laude).

How does one stick to one’s life-long goals despite competition cancellations, lockdowns, and other setbacks? This interview will explore motivation to keep training, focus on interim steps, keep one’s self fit and in competition mode, and build the partnerships necessary to keep going in incredibly difficult times.

Anna-Maria Wagner has been practicing judo since the age of seven and began her athletic career at the Karate and Judo Club (KJC) Ravensburg, Germany. She still competes for her home club today and is a judoka in the weight class up to 78 kilograms (light heavyweight). At the age of 16, she moved to a boarding school in Stuttgart in order to be able to devote herself intensively to competitive sports. After completing her school education, she began a career as a professional athlete and sports soldier with the German Armed Forces in Cologne, where she currently lives and trains. Parallel to her professional sports career with the German Armed Forces, she is studying hotel and tourism management.
Anna-Maria Wagner was respectively European Judo Champion in 2016 in the U21 age group and in 2017 in the U23 age group. In 2018, she achieved 3rd place at the European Women's Championships. Her greatest successes came in 2021, when she also won the bronze medal in both the individual and team events at the Tokyo Olympics, in addition to the World Championship in Budapest. In 2022, she finished 3rd (bronze) in the mixed team event at the World Championships. Over the course of her career so far, she has won gold in judo Grand Slam tournaments a total of four times.

Jonas Zopf is a qualified sports scientist focusing on prevention and rehabilitation (TU München). He preserved his enthusiasm for music beyond his A-Levels at a musical grammar school. Accompanying his studies, he successfully finished his additional training as a certified sports psychologist. He has been an expert in sports psychology and a member of the Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaft ever since. He devotes himself most intensively to mental techniques of training and recreation like mindfulness meditation. He has been working as a self-employed sports psychologist and trainer for mindfulness meditation since 2010 and also works closely with top athletes and esteemed musicians. In addition to that he is working as a qualified body-mind therapist in the fields of psychiatry and psychosomatic since 2013.