My Research interests focus on two fields:

German Lieder in Australia and The Interaction Between Gesture/Body-Movement and the Voice

Publications to date:

Nafisi, J. (2018). German Lieder in Modern Australia in German-Australian Encounters and Cultural Transfers Global Dynamics in Transnational Lands. Editors: Nickl, B.; Herrschner, I.; Goździak, E. M. (Eds.). Springer Verlag, Hamburg

Nafisi, J. (2015). Gesture and body-movement as tools to improve vocal tone. Australian Voice. Vol. 17, 11-21

Nafisi, J. (2014). Gestures and Body-Movements in the Teaching of Singing: A survey into current practice in Australia and Germany. Australian Journal of Music Education. Vol.1, 77-93

Nafisi, J. (2013). Gesture and Body-Movement as Teaching and Learning Tools in the Classical Voice Lesson. A Survey into Current Practice. British Journal of Music Education.Vol.30, 347-367.

Nafisi, J. (2013). Music Immanent in Words. Hugo Wolf’s Mörike Lieder. Australian Voice. Vol. 15, 29-39

Nafisi, J. (2011). German Lieder in the perception of the modern Australian listener and/or singer: A survey at the 30th National Liederfest. Australian Journal of Music Education, Vol. 1, 31-41.

Nafisi, J. (2010). Gesture as a tool of communication in the teaching of singing. Australian Journal of Music Education, Vol. 2, 103-116.

Nafisi, J. (2008). Lehn Deine Wang An Meine Wang: Heinrich Heine and Robert Schumann Revisited. Australian Voice, Vol. 14, 1-6

Nafisi, J. (2008).The Use of Gesture as a Pedagogic Tool in the Singing Studio. Proceedings of the 30th Annual ANZARME Conference: Innovation and Tradition; Music Education Research, Melbourne, Australia. 203-213.

Conference Papers

Nafisi, J. (2017): Embodied Imagery. Gestures and Body-Movements carried out by Singers away from the audience. International Congress of Voice Teachers (ICVT) Aug 2017, Stockholm, Sweden

Nafisi, J. (2016) Optimising expression: The role of gesture and movement in stabilising an expressive interpretation. Performing Wellness; Symposium presented by the Music Mind and Wellbeing group of the University of Melbourne, December 2016

Nafisi, J. (2016). Embodied Imagery: The gestures and movements carried out by Western Classical Singers away from an audience. Abstract accepted for ‘long format oral presentation’ at the International Conference on Music, Cognition and Perception, San Francisco, July, 2016

Nafisi, J. (2015). Embodied Imagery: The gestures and movements carried out by Western Classical Singers away from an audience.  Paper presented at The Art and Science of Music conference of the Australian Music and Psychology Society in Parramatta, Australia.

Nafisi, J. (2015). Gesture and Body-Movement as Tools to Improve Vocal Tone, A case study. Paper presented at the 2015 National conference of the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing in Hobart, Australia

Nafisi, J. (2014). Gesture and Body-Movement as tools to improve vocal tone production. Paper presented at the Music, Mind and Health conference of the Australian Music and Psychology Society in Melbourne, Australia.

Nafisi, J. (2014). Gesture and Body-Movement as tools to improve vocal tone production. Paper presented Music Cognition & Action Symposium The MARCS Institute, University of Western Sydney.

Nafisi, J (2013). The Use of Gesture and Body-Movement in the Teaching of Singing. Paper presented at the International Congress of Voice Teachers (ICVT) in Brisbane, Australia.

Nafisi, J. (2010). Words immanent in music. Hugo Wolf’s Mörike Lieder.  Paper presented at the ANATS national conference in Brisbane, Australia.

Nafisi, J. (2008). The Use of Gesture as a Pedagogic Tool in the Singing Studio. Paper presented at the 30th Annual Conference: Innovation and Tradition; Music Education Research, Melbourne, Australia.

Nafisi, J (2008). Lehn’ deine Wang’ an meine Wang’.Schumann und Heine revisited. Paper presented at the ANATS national conference in Canberra, Australia

 German Lieder

The combination of words and music in song lies at the beginning of all music making; each time has entrusted to its songs its most spontaneous emotions, its most fleeting moods, its most secret feelings; thus the song is a micro-cosmos of human history. Every country has its songs, mostly in the form of ‘folk songs’ and so called ‘art songs’ (distinguished from the former in that they have a known composer and poet) have developed as a musical genre in the 19th century in a number of European countries. Whilst the term Lied (plural Lieder) simply means “song” in German, it has become a technical term when German art songs of the early 19^th century (the ‘Romantic’ period) namely those by Schubert, became known beyond German language borders. Today the term German Lied (in English) or simply Le Lied (in French) relates predominantly to the genre of the German Romantic Art Song with Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf arguably as the main protagonists but in a wider sense also encompasses songs by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Franz, Strauss, Mahler, Reger, Berg, Schönberg and others.

Get an overview about German Lieder here: German_Lieder_Lecture.

German Lieder: Lecture at Monash University 2010

In a Nutshell: Handout to German Lieder: German_Lieder_Handout Lecture at Monash University 2010.

Get a more specific insight into the world of some of the most revered composers and poets of the Romantic period:

Lehn’ deine Wang’ and meine Wang’. Schumann und Heine revisited. Australian Voice, Vol. 14, 1-6, 2008 Lehn_deine_Wang

Music Immanent in Words. Wolf’s Mörike Lieder Australian Voice, in print, 2010 Music_immanent_in_Words

Read about how German Lieder are perceived today: German Lieder in the perception of the modern Australian listener and/or singer: A survey at the 30th National Liederfest Australian Journal of Music Education, (1), 31-41. 2011. German_Lieder_Australian_Perception