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.

Theodora Christia

Why did I join the CE research group?

My participation in this project is part of my internship in Leiden University, where I am currently doing my master’s in Clinical Neuropsychology. It is the first time that I have the opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary team and be part of such an interesting project. Being in this team, I had the opportunity to meet other students and professionals. It is a great experience working with other psychologists and musicians, and see how music can have an influence on so many things. During this project children of different ages are filmed during concerts of classical music, while it is examined how storytelling affects their engagement. My part is to encode children’s behavior and score them, depending on how engaged they are on the musical pieces they are listening to. Moreover, I was assigned to train two other students on the behavior encoding. So far, it has been a very nice experience learning new things from other professionals and then having the opportunity to share everything I have learned with other students. It is exciting to see how musicians work on this project and listen to such beautiful classical music pieces, since being a psychologist without musical background, I wouldn’t have had the chance to be part of this procedures otherwise.

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