The Power of Music Thinking

What can people and organisations learn from science and music? Why should we care? Are there universal mechanisms that are valid all over the world to all human species? Or is everything an individual experience? 

Today, we talk with Hauke Egermann, Professor of Systematical Musicology at the University of Cologne.

We speak about universal mechanisms that are valid all over the world; we learn from research with an isolated cultur...

A few episodes ago, I asked the question What is Orchestration? This was because I saw a lot of different orchestrators, nota bene, non-musical orchestrators with job titles like Design Orchestrator, Value Network Orchestrator, Data Orchestrator and Innovation Orchestrator, just to name a few. This is an ongoing research, and I am writing a paper about what people do when they say they are orchestrating. 

But today, we flip the sid...

Let’s talk about books today. What was the last book that inspired you? Was it a novel, a non-fiction book, a design book, a music book or a cookbook? 

In this episode, I share three books that inspired my sound way of thinking, experiencing the world with an open ear and what has led to developing music thinking, the framework, the jam cards, the book and the podcast. 

I will briefly discuss Nada Brahma by Joachim Ernst Berend, ...

Today we speak with Willemijn van Hussen - a trained concert pianist, strategy consultant - co-founder and owner of Sonic Branding agency TAMBR.

We talk about the power of our senses and how sound can make a difference in recognising a brand and what it stands for. Willemijn shares with us insights from an audio branding project, with a sonic logo, brand anthem and different sound assets that are used strategically. 

Among others, ...

We end this year with Leonoor Opstelten, a young researcher who used improvisation and music as an experimental approach for her thesis on forest and nature conservation.  With this approach, she won the Birgit Elands thesis prize just a few weeks ago.

In her thesis, she included five piano pieces accompanying five different storylines - patterns and themes that resulted from her research.

Let's listen to the research, its story, ...

Christof Zürn talks about music thinking, the music thinking framework, and JAMMIN’ before SCORE and what this means in the context of co-creation in the business. How does this sound? 

It sounds marvellous; we hear a lot of musical experts from the new (digital) album of MRZ - an ambient improvisation trio - and get an explanation of how this relates to the music thinking practise.

Show notes

• Thin...

What is orchestration? And

What is an orchestrator? What do they do?

Is everybody now a musician or music thinker?

Is it important? And Why should we care?  

What challenges around orchestration are there in different fields and can music, music thinking or the grandmaster of orchestration, Rimski-Korsakov, help?

In this short episode, I discuss a pre-research concerning orchestration in different fields. If you are an orchestrat...

join us in our conversation and hear more about the journey from Poland to Germany and the US, from playing violin in a top-notch orchestra to getting an MBA at Stanford University Graduate School of Business and writing a white paper about AI and music. 

Show Notes

• Connect with Anna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniaf/ 
• Berlin Philharmonic: https://www.berliner-philharmo...

Today is a special episode of the podcast, not just because of the 50th episode anniversary but because there will be no guests today. Instead, you'll be immersed in a unique sound walk experience, a journey of sound I recorded in July in Italy. This is not just a regular episode; it's a sonic adventure. 

Open your mind and listening brain because, as we learned in the last episode with Professor Nina Kraus, you can only hear wh...

We don't just hear; we engage with sounds. Our hearing is always on, and we can't close our ears the way we close our eyes, yet we can ignore unimportant sounds. Making sense of sound is one of the most challenging jobs we ask our brains to do. But how does this work?

Today, we speak with Dr. Nina Kraus, scientist, inventor, book author, Professor of Neurobiology at Northwestern University, and Director of BrainVolts. 

Nina's resea...

Today, we speak with Ron van Leeuwen, who straddles two creative worlds. By day, he is an architect and urban designer, shaping physical spaces. By night, he transforms his creative energy into music, composing pieces that the 55-piece Metropole Orkest has recorded. His newest composition, Architones, is also available on Spotify. We discuss the relations and differences between working in these two fields, the metamorphoses of bui...

How are your habits getting in the way of being more creative? How does self-observation make you a better performer? And how can touching from a distance help you with performance problems?

Today, we speak with Jennifer Roig-Francoli - violinist, healer, coach, author and creator of The Art of Freedom Method for Conscious Living and Masterful Artistry.

We discuss methods like the Alexander technique, the Suzuki method, the mo...

Dr. Mariana Wagner, an astrophysicist, songwriter, podcaster, and composer of immersive live shows about sound and space. 

We learn about her journey that led her from studying oceanography, working as a songwriter for German Schlager stars and becoming a doctor of astrophysics.  

Mariana also brought some sound examples to the show. We hear a conversation between Saturn and one of its moons, an excerpt from the sound files on the ...

How cool is this? You develop a multisensory product to let people experience your ideas about music thinking and then someone comes along and uses your product for something completely different.

So today, we speak with Anita Prestidge, an English trainer with experience in theatre, directing, and education. When Anita picked up the cards, she had another idea of what to do with these cards and developed her own unique method. ...

Today, we are in Sweden, and we speak with Carolin Seiferth - a PhD student at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, where she does research on the island of Öland.

Carolin combines scientific research with music to raise awareness about sustainability issues around the Baltic Sea. In this way, she inspires the audience to take action to address challenges related to a changing climate.  Carolin shares some insights with us about her r...

Welcome to the Rewind 2023 of The Power of Music Thinking podcast, where I have conversations with extraordinary people from all over the world who are also musicians or use music in the broadest sense of the word to learn, teach, inspire and collaborate meaningfully. 

This year, we had 15 episodes, and virtually, we travelled from Nijmegen in the Netherlands, where all podcasts are recorded, to Berlin, Braunschweig, Zürich, London...

Today, we are in Nashville, and we speak with Shain Shapiro - a globally recognised thought leader at the convergence of music, culture and urban policy. 

Shain is the CEO of Sound Diplomacy - a global research and strategy consultancy, and he also leads the non-profit Center for Music Ecosystems, which commissions research to help solve local, national and international challenges using music as a tool.

Shain has authored rep...

Listen to an incredible sonic project by a Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE)  graduate: Louis Moeckel. Hear the story about the supply chain of the production of a Toy Dolphin and the creation of research into an artistic Vinyl record. If you like Techno and the Berghain Club in Berlin you will like this. See the show notes to pre-order this unique Vinyl record.

Please choose one or more of the ‘three ...

What is the use of standing still for 10 minutes? I was asking myself when I saw a post on social media. It was a double picture of a man with a mobile phone around his neck displaying some data, and another picture showed the view he saw at that moment. I learned that he stood there for 10 minutes without any movement, listening to the sound that was already there. There were many pictures like this, and I decided to get in conta...