CBSO Survey *

Do you attend concerts given by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO)? If so, we'd like to hear about your concert experiences and your interest in classical music.

 

* The survey is now closed and a summary of the results will be published soon.

 

Concert Audiences in Spain

Stephanie Pitts undertook a research visit to Spain in July 2011, funded by a research mobility grant from the Santander Universities Network. She met with Dr Gabriel Rusinek (University of Madrid) and and Dr José Luis Aróstegui (University of Granada) for discussions about classical audiences in Spain, finding many similarities with the challenges facing UK arts providers in recruiting and retaining new and younger audiences for live music. We hope that this initial visit will lead to future international collaborations for the SPARC team.

Networks

We have now added a list of links to the networks page (more pending). Please contact us if you would like to share links.

Our Research in the Press

Melissa Dobson and Stephanie Pitts have co-authored a paper for Ethnomusicology Forum, for a special issue on the ethnomusicology of Western art music. The paper draws on their work with new audiences, including Melissa's London-based study and their joint work with Music in the Round. The special issue will be published in December 2011 and you can read a preview of the abstract here.

Our Research in the Press

Dr Melissa Dobson's research into new audiences at the Night Shift has recently been discussed in The Evening Standard. To read more about the findings of Melissa Dobson's research on new audiences for classical music, please see Melissa's comment in response to Tom Service's article.

You can view all our news articles in our News Archive

Our Team

The Sheffield Performer and Audience Research Centre (SPARC) comprises a team of researchers from the Music and Psychology departments of the University of Sheffield who share interests in the empirical research of live music performance.

We are also exploring connections with an international team of academics, whose specialist research enhances our understanding of the relationships between audiences and performers.

Forthcoming Events

Members of SPARC are regularly involved with activities including guest lectures, seminars, discussions and conferences.

You can view both current and past events through these webpages.

Postgraduate Courses

The Department of Music offers three taught MAs in the Psychology of Music, two of which are available by distance learning. These courses address aspects of the psychology of performance and audience-performer relationships.

We also welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students who wish to conduct research in these areas.