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Bodies in Concert

Concerts bring audiences and musicians together in time, in place, and in music. Bodies in Concert is a project exploring the movement and physiology of concert participants through various technologies adapted to the study of the musical experience.

Researchers' off stage view of the SSO performing while being measured.

About the project

This project investigates when and how performers' and audience members' bodies act together during classical music concerts. Music performances bring bodies into different relationships, and we study coordination across performance roles and musical arrangements.

RITMO has teamed up with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra to develop a unique set of concerts during the 2023 and 2024 Lydo concert series. These performances focus on how young people engage with classical music. RITMO's researchers collect data during the concerts and show some data-capturing methods and analyses live on stage.

Methodology

We use state-of-the-art technologies to capture body activity from musicians and audience members. The video below shows some of these technologies in action.

We are interested in:

  • Body motion, which we capture using video, accelerometers, or motion capture suits.
  • Heart activity and breathing, which we capture using electrocardiography (ECG) and breathing belts. 
  • Visual attention and cognitive effort, which we capture using gaze tracking and pupillometry (measurement of pupil diameter).
  • Concert experiences, which we tap into using questionnaires and interviews. 

Partners

LYDO is developed by Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with Equinor's talent development programme, Morgendagens Helter. The aim is to stimulate interest in the sciences through music and is targeted at children in grades 5-10 in elementary school.

Tags: Concerts, Music and Movement, Respiration, Audience, orchestra
Published Oct. 31, 2023 11:33 AM - Last modified Mar. 9, 2024 11:05 PM

Contact

If you have questions about Bodies in Concert or wish to exercise your rights as a participant in a related concert experiment, please contact:

Participants

Detailed list of participants