Rate My Professor Helen English

Associate Professor Helen English is an Associate Professor in Music in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Newcastle in 2016, Master of Arts in Music from the University of Newcastle, and Diploma in Music from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her career history includes serving as Associate Lecturer at the University of Tasmania Conservatorium of Music from 1997 to 1999, Music Staff with Opera 80 (now English Touring Opera) in 1993, and Music Staff at the Royal Opera House, London from 1993 to 1994. She has been Executive Officer for NACTMUS (National Council for Tertiary Music Australia) since 2003.

Helen English's research specializations include creative ageing focusing on access to music, music and dementia, and music's transformative effects; music and communities encompassing world-building, colonial music, nineteenth-century music, and music sociology; Australian music; music and social justice; musicology; music and gender; music and wellbeing; and music education. She received an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) for her project on creative ageing through transformative engagement with music. Other honors include the Musicology award from the National Council of Women for her PhD in 2016, Associate Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions in 2017, and the Newcastle community group citizen award in 2025 for her work with the Unforgettables choir. Key publications comprise books Together in Music (2021) and Music and World-Building in the Colonial City: Newcastle, NSW, and its Townships, 1860-1880 (2020); recent articles such as 'Transformative engagement with community music-making for older adults: A scoping review' (2025), 'Music groups and connectivity: Older adults' perceptions of socialising through community music' (2025), and 'Musical Spaces in the Asylum in Watt Street, Newcastle, New South Wales' (2025). Her influence extends to leading a creative-ageing research team within the Hunter Medical Research Institute's Healthy Minds program, founding a dementia choir in 2023, creating a digital map of music activities for older adults in Australia, and collaborating on projects with the Royal College of Music, London.