Classic Express Research project by Ilona Sie Dhian Ho

In a combined qualitative and quantitative research the influence of storytelling in concerts for children is analyzed. In a controlled setting, The Classic Express (mobile concert hall), groups of schoolchildren attend either a concert with or a concert without storytelling. The groups, similar in socio- economic background and age, are compared. In a quantitative research the involved listening, the felt emotional intensity, the interest in classical music and the interest in actively playing an instrument, will be measured. For quantification new grading systems are developed by scientists and musicians in a collaborative process. In a qualitative research on the influence of storytelling the focus is on children with severe learning disorders. The emotional responses of these children in concerts with and without storyelling, and in combination with participatory elements (moving, gestures) are observed by teachers and caretakers, They compare their observations in the concert to the normal behaviour of their pupils. Both Interviews with the teachers and their grading of arousal, attention and emotional levels in the concert will provide data that will be analyzed by the reserachers. This research is the first study of The Classic Expression Research Group, a group of researchers from the Royal Conservatoire and Leiden University, collaborating to provide new insights on the impact of presentation techniques in classical concerts.

Initial idea

To know more about the impact of performing techniques in concerts in this research we choose for a combined quantitave and qualitatitve approach. A controlled situation, in which we can test these techniques on specific groups will add new knowledge to the abundance of experiences musicians already have. The idea is to design experiments to test one specific presentation technique that seemed promising for a specific group, at the time.

In the practice based research project Orkest Morgenstond examples of successful techniques have been: active participation of audiences in organizing concerts, asking responses of audiences in a performance and storytelling, to introduce and connect the repertoire. In future other ideas that seem promising could be tested in a similar way.

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