DrGeorge Waddell

Dr George Waddell is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London. He is also Reader in Performance Research and Innovation at the Royal College of Music and a member of the Centre for Performance Science: a partnership of the Royal College of Music and Imperial. His research focusses on understanding and optimising how performers learn, perform, and are evaluated, including how technology can be leveraged to enhance these processes.

George works with experts across fields to examine parallels in performance practice and to develop and deliver bespoke performance training to students and professionals, including stage presentation skills, managing performance anxiety, and working creatively under pressure. As Area Leader in Performance Science he oversees a range of BMus RCM modules ensuring that students benefit from the latest research and scientific knowledge in their training. He designs and leads courses on scientific research methods, the psychology of performance, enterprise and innovation, professional skills, and musicians’ health and wellbeing. He drives the development and testing of new technologies to simulate and enhance performance and led software development for the RCM Performance Laboratories. He is a coauthor of the research methods textbook Performing Music Research and serves as a consultant on external research projects.

George holds a PhD in Performance Science from the RCM. He completed his BMus and MMus in piano performance at Brandon University (Canada) while studying psychology. He was awarded the Brandon University Gold Medal for the Master of Music Degree and holds an ARCT Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He is an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Performance Science, on the editorial board for the Journal of Piano Research, and a Senior Fellow of Advance HE (SFHEA).