Research Presentation with Dr. Sarah Bartolome
The Music for Childhood Well-Being Initiative: Leveraging Group Singing and Breathwork to Support Children’s Health and Wellbeing Globally
The Music for Childhood Well-being Initiative (MCWI) examines the use of music as an intervention for mitigating stress and increasing the well-being of children globally. This pilot study explored the impact of an 8-week, trauma-informed group singing and breathwork intervention on children aged 9-11 (N=67) in the US (n=27), England (n=20), and Mexico (n=20). Our interdisciplinary team integrated biometric, psychological, and behavioral methodologies to provide a holistic, biopsychosocial understanding of the impact of group singing and breathwork on children. In this research talk, Sarah Bartolome will explore the issue of trauma-informed music education practice, present MCWI and its preliminary findings, and offer practical applications for music educators seeking to adopt a more trauma-informed approach in the classroom.
This event is free and open to the public and cosponsored by the Osher School of Music and the Maine Music Educators Association
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Dr. Sarah J. Bartolome, an Associate Professor of Music Education at Northwestern University, is a children’s music specialist with an interest in world music for the classroom. She earned degrees in music education from Ithaca College (BM), Northwestern University (MM), and the University of Washington (PhD). She is also a fully certified Kodaly educator, having received all three levels of certification from the New England Conservatory’s Kodaly Music Institute and serving on the faculty of the Kodaly Levels Program of Seattle. Dr. Bartolome’s scholarship in music education has been published in such journals as the Journal of Research in Music Education, Research Studies in Music Education, the International Journal of Community Music, the Kodaly Envoy, and the Music Educators Journal. Dr. Bartolome is the author of World Music Pedagogy V: Choral Music Education (Routledge, 2019) and co-author of a forthcoming book on gender expansive music education (Routledge, 2025). Her research interests include participatory music making as social capital, world music pedagogy, gender expansive music education, and trauma-informed approaches in music education. She is a frequent clinician at regional, national, and international conferences and has completed music fieldwork in Ghana, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Panama, and Vietnam. In 2013, she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in Vilnius, Lithuania where she spent five months teaching at the Vilnius Pedagogical University and conducting research with local folk ensembles and choirs. At Northwestern, Dr. Bartolome serves as the Co-Director of the Music for Childhood Wellness Initiative, an interdisciplinary research effort investigating the impact of group singing for children. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at Northwestern University, she also serves as the Associate Director of the Evanston Children’s Choir.