Imperial News

Professional Music Concert in the Data Observatory

by Cerys Morgan

Pilot experiment of audience response to a classical music concert, in collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music

21 March, 2017-

As part of a collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music, the Data Science Institute hosted a one hour classical music concert in their visually stunning Data Observatory (DO) on 21 March. The Guildhall School of Music & Drama is one of the world's leading conservatoires and drama schools, as well as a global leader of creative and professional practice and promotes innovation, experiment and research. The goal of this music concert was to perform a pilot experiment on audience response to a professional classical musical performance within the Data Observatory.  The audience was a mixture drawn from Imperial members of staff, with varied levels of experience with music and skills. During the concert, data was recorded on how musicians and audience members engage through the music playing at a brain level.  Participants, both playing music and audience members, were given an EEG, brain tracking, cap to wear to process and track brain levels. Other participants who were not connected to an EEG, were given a questionnaire to fill out regarding their reactions. Hosted by Dr. Miguel Molina-Solana, his research partners and him will be processing these data in the upcoming months. 

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