Nikki Moran joined Music at Edinburgh in September 2007 after gaining degrees in music at City University London/GSMD, University of Cambridge, and Open University, and a teaching post at the University of East London. During this time she studied classical viola and also North Indian sitar performance. From 2002 to 2007, she busked regularly and led workshops on North Indian music for schools and community music projects. As Senior Lecturer in Music, her academic research and teaching on music cognition revolves around the study of performance as communicative practice.