FOAM-TEAM

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Dr. phil. Jesper Hohagen M.A., B.A.
Projektleiter | Head of project

Freiburger Institut für Musikermedizin | Freiburg Institute for Musicians’ Medicine
Hochschule für Musik Freiburg | University of Music Freiburg
Universitätsklinikum Freiburg | Freiburg University Medical Center
Medizinische Fakultät, Universität Freiburg | Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg
Freiburger Forschungs- und Lehrzentrum Musik | Freiburg Center for Music Research and Teaching

Elsässer Straße 2m, Raum 011 | 79110 Freiburg | Germany
T +49 761 27061629 | j.hohagen@mh-freiburg.de

CV [deutsch]

Jesper Hohagen is a post-doc researcher at the Freiburg Institute of Musicians’ Medicine (FIM) and teaches music physiology at the University of Music Freiburg. His current research interests lie mainly in the physiological and psychological mechanisms of practicing and performing music. He is also investigating potential overlaps between the underlying psychophysiological processes in sport and music, with an important role of attentional focus.

Jesper Hohagen studied Musicology and German Studies at the University of Bremen (B.A.) and the University of Cologne (M.A.) and received his doctorate in Systematic Musicology from the University of Hamburg. During his PhD, Jesper investigated how we perceive musical movements. Therefore, he conducted music psychological experiments to examine the multimodal perception of musical gestures by using movement analysis, sonification of movements and self-other recognition paradigms. Furthermore, Jesper did a 4-month research visit at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia researching emotional responses to music and its neural representations in relation to changes in key musical events.

Before he started his position at FIM in 2023, he was a post-doc at the Centre for Childhood and Adolescence Research at the Protestant University of Applied Science in Freiburg, mainly working on early childhood attachment security. In addition to positions in long-term evaluations of federal programs, he was the co-project leader of the Quebin project, a program to promote and evaluate the quality of attachment-related interactions in early childhood.

Jesper Hohagen is an amateur musician, was a semi-professional footballer and now plays a lot of tennis and table tennis. He is a member of national and international music psychological and music physiological research societies and ad-hoc reviewer of various peer-reviewed journals. Recently, he became a member of the Postdoctoral fellowship for leading early career researchers of the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung. In this context Jesper was awarded with a grant for the three-year project “Focus of Attention in Music” (FOAM). For a list of all publications click below.

Publications
ResearchGate

Annemarie Ohlsen B.Mus., M.Ed.
Doktorandin | PhD researcher

Freiburger Institut für Musikermedizin | Freiburg Institute for Musicians’ Medicine
Hochschule für Musik Freiburg | University of Music Freiburg
Universitätsklinikum Freiburg | Freiburg University Medical Center
Medizinische Fakultät, Universität Freiburg | Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg
Freiburger Forschungs- und Lehrzentrum Musik | Freiburg Center for Music Research and Teaching

Elsässer Straße 2m, Raum 011 | 79110 Freiburg | Germany
T +49 761 27061629 | a.ohlsen@mh-freiburg.de

CV [deutsch]

Annemarie Ohlsen has been an academic staff member at the Freiburg Institute for Musicians‘ Medicine (FIM) since June 2024. There she is working on her doctorate in music physiology under the supervision of Dr. Jesper Hohagen in the project “Focus of attention in music” (FOAM). In this project, she investigates attention instructions in teaching-learning situations.

From 2017–2024 she studied music as a secondary school teacher with the main subjects viola and jazz singing at the University of Music Trossingen, as well as for one semester at the California State University Long Beach.

Lara Schomann B.Mus.
Studentische Hilfskraft | Student assistant

Lara Schomann hat einen Bachelor mit künstlerischem Schwerpunkt im Hauptfach Tuba an der Musikhochschule Mannheim absolviert. Aktuell studiert sie Psychologie an der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Dabei interessiert sie sich vor allem für mentale Prozesse beim Musizieren und Musikergesundheit. Neben dem Studium ist sie weiterhin freischaffend als Tubistin tätig.

Lara Schomann completed a bachelor’s degree with an artistic focus in tuba at the University of Music Mannheim. She is currently studying psychology at the University of Freiburg. She is particularly interested in mental processes while making music and musicians‘ health. In addition to her studies, she continues to work as a freelance tuba player.

 

Katharina Schote BA

Katharina Schote (geb. Veit) absolvierte ihr Studium der Biologie an der Universität Hamburg (2017–2022) sowie Schulmusik mit Hauptfach Violine bei Prof. Monika Bruggaier und Prof. Ljudmila Minnibaeva an der Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. Die Verbindung von naturwissenschaftlicher und künstlerischer Ausbildung weckte ihr besonderes Interesse an musikphysiologischen Fragestellungen, insbesondere an den körperlichen und kognitiven Prozessen beim Musizieren. Seit 2022 setzt sie ihr Studium im Master of Education in Freiburg mit dem Hauptfach Gesang bei Prof. Mareike Morr fort. Im Rahmen des FOAM-Projekts widmet sie sich in ihrer Master-Thesis (Üben und Performen: Eine explorative Video-Stimulated-Recall-Studie zum Aufmerksamkeitsfokus von Sänger*innen) der Frage, worauf Gesangsstudierende ihre Aufmerksamkeit beim Üben und während eines Auftritts richten.

Katharina Schote (née Veit) studied biology at the University of Hamburg (2017-2022) and school music, majoring in violin, under Prof. Monika Bruggaier and Prof. Ljudmila Minnibaeva at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama. The combination of scientific and artistic education awakened her particular interest in music physiology issues, especially the physical and cognitive processes involved in making music. Since 2022, she has been continuing her studies in the Master of Education in Freiburg under Prof. Mareike Morr as her main subject, singing. As part of the FOAM project, she is doing her Master’s thesis (Practicing and Performing: A explorative video-stimulated-recall study about the focus of attention of singers) with a special interest in questions of how singing university studies direct their attentional focus while practicing and performing on stage.

 

Elisabeth Hoffmann BMus

Elisabeth Hoffmann studiert derzeit im Master Musikphysiologie an der Musikhochschule Freiburg. Dabei interessiert sie sich besonders für eine ganzheitliche und ergonomische Betrachtung des Cellospiels. Von 2019 bis 2024 studierte sie Violoncello mit künstlerischem und pädagogischem Schwerpunkt an der Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim bei Zoltan Paulich. In ihrer Bachelorarbeit untersuchte sie die methodischen Ansätze Gerhard Mantels. Seit 2025 ist sie studentische Hilfskraft im FOAM-Projekt.

Elisabeth Hoffmann is currently studying for a Master’s degree in Music Physiology at the University of Music Freiburg. She is particularly interested in a holistic and ergonomic approach to cello playing. From 2019 to 2024, she studied cello with an artistic and pedagogical focus at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts under Zoltan Paulich. In her bachelor’s thesis, she examined Gerhard Mantel’s methodological approaches. She has been a student assistant in the FOAM project since 2025.

 

ALUMNI

 

Antonia Nolte B.Mus.
Studentische Hilfskraft, Masterstudierende | Student assistant and MEd student

Antonia Nolte arbeitet seit 2023 als studentische Hilfskraft im FOAM-Projekt mit. Sie studierte Schulmusik mit den Schwerpunkten Violine und Gesang an der Hochschule für Musik Freiburg. Darüber ist sie durch ihr Sport-Studium an der Universität Freiburg besonders an der Verbindung von Musik und Sport interessiert.

In ihrer Master-Thesis im Rahmen des FOAM-Projekts beschäftigte sie sich mit dem Aufmerksamkeitsfokus von Musizierenden auf körperliche Aspekte. Des Weiteren diskutiert ihre Arbeit den Zusammenhang zwischen körperlicher Aktivität und musikalischer Expertise.

Antonia Nolte has been working as a student assistant in the FOAM project since 2023. She studied school music with a focus on violin and singing at the University of Music in Freiburg. She is also particularly interested in the combination of music and sport due to her sports studies at the University of Freiburg.

In her master’s thesis as part of the FOAM project, she dealt with the focus of attention of musicians on physical aspects. Her work also discusses the connection between physical activity and musical expertise.

Natalie Beck B.Mus., B.A.
Masterstudierende | MEd student

Natalie Beck studierte von 2016–2024 an der Hochschule für Musik Freiburg sowie an der Universität Freiburg. Sie schloss ihren polyvalenten 2-Hauptfachbachelor in den Fächern Musik und Sport sowie den Bachelor of Arts mit Hauptfach Gesang (Oper, Konzert, Pädagogik) bei Prof. Torsten Meyer 2021 ab. Danach studierte sie den Master of Education mit Hauptfach Jazzgesang und den Master of Arts mit Hauptfach Gesang (Oper und Konzert) bei Prof. Mareike Morr und Julia Rempe.

Natalie Becks Master-Thesis im Rahmen des FOAM-Projekts hat den Titel „Tief einatmen, Stimme aktiv und warmhalten“ – Eine qualitative Studie über den Aufmerksamkeitsfokus bei Sänger*innen vom ersten Üben bis zur Performance. Darin untersucht sie Aussagen zu Aufmerksamkeitsfokussierungen von Gesangsstudierenden während verschiedener Übe-Phasen.

Natalie Beck studied at the Freiburg University of Music and the Albert Ludwig University from 2016–2024. She completed her polyvalent two-major bachelor’s degree in music and sports, as well as a Bachelor of Arts with a major in singing (opera, concert, pedagogy) under Prof. Torsten Meyer in 2021. She then studied for a Master of Education with a major in jazz singing and a Master of Arts with a major in singing (opera and concert) with Prof. Mareike Morr and Julia Rempe.

Natalie Beck’s Master’s thesis within the FOAM project has the title “Breathe in deeply, keep your voice active and warm” – A qualitative study about focus of attention of singers from the first practice to performance and investigates attentional focus statements of singing students from a music university during different practice phases.