The impact of new classical music concert formats
A team from the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) and the University of Cologne has shown that different concert formats influence the experience, behavior and physical reactions of the audience.
A total of 802 people took part in the study, which consisted of eleven chamber music concerts with the same three string quintets, but with different format components. Questionnaires, physiological measurements and cameras were used to record individual experience and behavior. Among other things, the team measured the heart rate, evaluated emotions that were shown through facial expressions and recorded the evaluation, community experience and other dimensions of experience.
The study is part of the comprehensive research project «Experimental Concert Research», which aims to gain insights into the musical experience at concerts. With the results of several experimental live and streamed concerts, the team aims to establish a larger, empirically supported model of the music experience in concert.
