Ragnhild Bang Nes is a research professor at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) where she coordinates quality of life research, which is now a strategic priority at the NIPH. She is also an associate professor in psychology at the University of Oslo (UiO), and heads the intervention research group at Promenta Research Center (UiO). For more than 18 years, Nes has researched happiness and quality of life. Her research includes studies on stability and change in life satisfaction, wellbeing and psychological distress, genetic and environmental factors, personality, and psychological resilience.
Professor John Milbank (University of Nottingham) is a theologian and philosopher. He is a co-founder of the Radical Orthodoxy movement and was previously director of the centre of theology and philosophy at the University of Nottingham. His work crosses disciplinary boundaries, integrating subjects such as systematic theology, social theory, ethics, aesthetics, philosophy, political theory, and political theology.
Tia DeNora (Ph.D., FBA) is Professor of Music Sociology at the University of Exeter, Professor II in Music Therapy at the Grieg Academy, University of Bergen (GAMUT), and a PhD Associate at Nordoff Robbins London. At Exeter, she directs the SocArts research group. She has published extensively within music sociology and music and wellbeing. Her contemporary classic, “Music in Everyday Life”, explores the affective and aesthetic components of agency and social organization through the use of music. Her work has been widely influential both within the sociology of the arts and the field of music therapy.
Gary Ansdell is an Associate of Nordoff Robbins London, Adjunct Professor in Music Therapy at the University of Limerick, Professor II in Music Therapy at the University of Bergen, and an honorary Professor at Exeter University. He has been a music therapist for thirty years, working mostly in the area of adult mental health in the last decade, and currently in late-life care settings. He has been involved in a wide range of areas of music therapy practice, and in developing the Community Music Therapy movement. He has published widely in the areas of music therapy and music and health and is author/co-author of seven books on music therapy, including “How Music Helps: In Music Therapy & Everyday Life” (2014) and with Tia DeNora “Musical Pathways in Recovery: Community Music Therapy & Mental Wellbeing” (2016). Their long term collaboration has led to their joint editorship of the book series Music and Change for Ashgate Publishers.