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.

Pilot concert

In June we organized two pilot concerts at the Royal Conservatoire in order to test the research design and the general approach.

In these concerts we only performed the story version. The children were filmed while attending the storytelling concert and filled out the concert booklet as planned in the real experiment.

The children attending the concert were pupils of the young children’s program of the Royal Conservatoire“PI".

Aim

-A realistic try-out for musicians and storyteller in front of a young audience.

-The opportunity to make changes before the real experiments.

-Evaluate the use of the Concertboekje in an age group in a concert setting. (Children were a bit younger than in the real experiments, but also more used to classical music).

-Make video images of children in a concert to use in creating a scale for engaged listening with the coding group.

-Ask feedback from experienced tutors and music teachers present at the concert.

Evaluation and adjustments

Based on the evaluation with musicians, research team and teachers changes were made:

-A better instruction for the chidlren with examples to practice in the booklet

-The instruction was planned an hour before the experiment

-The story was made shorter.

-The placement of the camera’s was changed

Tip

Tip