Tania Lisboa

Professor of Music and Applied Performance Science
Royal College of Music

Tania Lisboa is Professor of Music and Applied Performance Science at the Royal College of Music (RCM). She is also an honorary Senior Research Fellow at Imperial College London. As part of the Centre for Performance Science (CPS), her research focuses on expert memory, performance education, and arts in urban health of the Global South. Tania has acted as a commissioner to the International Society for Music Education’s Commission for the Education of the Professional Musician for six years, and she was an Artistic Research Fellow at the Orpheus Institute, Belgium, for three years.

Her doctoral research at Sheffield University employed longitudinal studies with young cellists to investigate the relationship between musical understanding and a multi-modal approach to teaching and learning. Tania also managed the RCM’s distance learning programme from 2003 to 2018, leading digital learning collaborations with international conservatoires and universities in the USA, Europe, and Asia.

In parallel with her academic research, Tania pursues an active career as a solo cellist. A native of Brazil, where she also trained as a pianist, her concert engagements encompass Europe, Asia, and North and South America. In addition to the standard repertoire, she has recorded the complete works for cello and piano by Brazilian composers C Guarnieri and by H Villa-Lobos for Meridian Records, the latter in three volumes.

  • 2011

    • Cervino A, Laws C, Lettberg M, and Lisboa T (eds) (2011), The Practice of Practising, University Press Leuven. DOI»

  • 2025

    • Ivanova D, Waddell G, and Lisboa T (2025), Factors determining satisfaction with online piano lessons for young beginner students, Research Studies in Music Education. DOI»

    • Lisboa T and Salazar D (2025), The global conservatoire, in C Lawson, D Salazar, and R Perkins (eds), Inside the Contemporary Conservatoire: Critical Perspectives from the Royal College of Music, London (pp. 236-248), Routledge.

  • 2024

    • Lisboa T, Santiago D, Fonte V, Shaughnessy C, and Perkins R (2024), Group music-making with families affected by Zika virus in Brazil, in R Perkins (ed), Music and Parental Mental Wellbeing (pp. 262-280), Oxford University Press.

    • Shaughnessy C, Santiago D, Donoso PP, Perkins R, and Lisboa T (2024), Creative health in the urban Global South: barriers and facilitators in the cases of Cochabamba and Salvador, Perspectives in Public Health, 144, 297-303. DOI»

  • 2022

    • Fonte V, Pipa L, Williamon A, and Lisboa T (2022), Memorising contemporary piano music as described by professional pianists, Music and Science, 5, 1-15. DOI»

    • Lisboa T, Jonasson P, and Johnson C (2022), Synchronous online learning, teaching, and performing, in GE McPherson (ed), Oxford Handbook of Music Performance, Vol 2 (pp. 499-527), Oxford University Press.

  • 2021

    • Camlin DA and Lisboa T (2021), The digital ‘turn’ in music education (editorial), Music Education Research, 23, 129-138. DOI»

    • Lisboa T, Shaugnessy C, Voyajolu A, and Ockelford A (2021), Promoting the musical engagement of autistic children in the early years through a program of parental support: an ecological research study, Music and Science, 4, 1-24. DOI»

  • 2020

    • Demos AP, Lisboa T, Logan T, Begosh KT, and Chaffin R (2020), A longitudinal study of the development of expressive timing, Psychology of Music, 48, 50-66. DOI»

  • 2019

    • Jónasson P and Lisboa T (2019), Professional musicians as researchers: leading changes through a study on memorization, in D Bennett, JL Rowley, and PK Schmidt (eds), Leadership of Pedagogy and Curriculum in Higher Music Education (pp. 133-149), Routledge.

  • 2018

    • Lisboa T, Demos AP, and Chaffin R (2018), Training thought and action for virtuoso performance, Musicae Scientiae, 22, 519-538. DOI»

  • 2016

    • Demos AP, Lisboa T, and Chaffin R (2016), Flexibility of expressive timing in repeated musical performances, Frontiers in Psychology, 7 (1490), 1-9. DOI»

  • 2015

    • Lisboa T, Chaffin R, and Demos AP (2015), Recording thoughts while memorizing music: a case study, Frontiers in Psychology, 5 (1561), 1-13. DOI»

  • 2014

    • Clark T, Lisboa T, and Williamon A (2014), An investigation into musicians’ thoughts and perceptions during performance, Research Studies in Music Education, 36, 19-37. DOI»

    • Clark T, Lisboa T, and Williamon A (2014), Learning to be an instrumental musician, in I Papageorgi and G Welch (eds), Advanced Musical Performance: Investigations in Higher Education Learning (pp. 287-300), Ashgate.

  • 2013

    • Clark T and Lisboa T (2013), Training for sustained performance: moving toward long-term musician development, Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 28, 159-168. DOI»

  • 2010

    • Chaffin R, Lisboa T, Logan T, and Begosh K (2010), Preparing for memorized cello performance: the role of performance cues, Psychology of Music, 38, 3-30. DOI»

  • 2009

    • Chaffin R and Lisboa T (2009), Practicing perfection: how concert soloists prepare for performance, Ictus, 9, 115-142.

  • 2008

    • Lisboa T (2008), Action and thought in cello playing: an investigation of children’s practice and performance, International Journal of Music Education, 26, 243-267. DOI»

    • Lisboa T (2008), Review of Mastering the Art of Performance (OUP, 2006), British Journal of Music Education, 25, 103-106. DOI»

  • 2006

    • Williamon A, Thompson S, Lisboa T, and Wiffen C (2006), Creativity, originality, and value in music performance, in I Deliège and G Wiggins (eds), Musical Creativity: Multidisciplinary Research in Theory and Practice (pp. 161-180), Psychology Press.

  • 2005

    • Lisboa T, Williamon A, Zicari M, and Eiholzer H (2005), Mastery through imitation: a preliminary study, Musicae Scientiae, 9, 75-110. DOI»

  • 2003

    • Lisboa T (2003), An overview of Villa-Lobos’ compositions for the violoncello, Música Hodie, 3, 44-51.

  • 2022

  • 2019

    • Lisboa T (principal investigator), with co-investigators N Manoel da Silva Ribeiro, R Perkins, and D Santiago (2019-21), Managing the Psychosocial Needs of Families Affected by ZIKA Virus: Exploring the Impact of Music as a Social Tool, British Academy, £49,940.

  • 2004

    • Lisboa T (principal investigator), with co-investigators E Clarke, A Williamon, and R Woledge (2004-05), Mapping Musical Movement: The Physical Expression of Musical Individuality, British Academy, £12,100.

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