Join us for an online workshop with Dr. Gebrian, as she discusses what neuroscientists have discovered about how our brains learn and how to apply these insights to practicing and teaching so that practicing becomes more efficient and effective, leading to enhanced performance ability, enjoyment, and confidence. Please RSVP here.

Dr. Molly Gebrian is a professional violist with a background in cognitive neuroscience. Her area of expertise is applying the science of learning and memory to practicing and performing. Given this expertise, she is a frequent presenter on the neuroscience of practicing at conferences, universities, and music festivals in the US and abroad. Her book, Learn Faster, Perform Better: A Musician’s Guide to the Neuroscience of Practicing was released in July 2024 by Oxford University Press. She also hosts a popular YouTube channel on the science of practicing, and has published papers on these topics in the Journal of the American Viola Society, Flute Talk Magazine, and The Strad, among others. She has also published research articles on the intersection of music and early language acquisition in Frontiers in Psychology and the The Oxford Handbook of Music and the Brain. As a violist, her performing is focused on promoting the music of marginalized composers, particular those from groups traditionally underrepresented in classical music. Her first album, Trios for Two, featuring six world-premiere recordings, was released in 2017. Recorded with long-time collaborator pianist/percussionist Danny Holt, it was named one of the top 100 albums of 2017 by influential music critic Ted Gioia. Her second album, TRAILBLAZERS: Sonatas by Henriëtte Bosmans, Ethel Smyth, and Dora Pejačević, featuring her own transcriptions of three Romantic-era cello sonatas by women composers, was released in 2024.

She completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in viola performance from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and also holds graduate degrees in viola performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, and Bachelors degrees from Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music, in both viola performance and neuroscience. Her principal teachers include Peter Slowik, Carol Rodland, James Dunham and Garth Knox. During the summer, she has been a member of the faculty at the NYU SummerStrings Festival, National Music Festival, Montecito International Music Festival, and Sewanee Summer Music Festival. Previously, she was the viola professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the University of Arizona. After a decade of teaching viola at the collegiate level, she joined the faculty at New England Conservatory of Music in Fall 2024 to teach courses on the science of practicing. www.mollygebrian.com