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Orchestras and festival organizers continually develop and experiment with new concert formats for classical music. But do these formats actually have an impact on audiences? A research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt am Main and the University of Cologne, Germany, has now demonstrated for the first time that different concert formats measurably influence audiences’ subjective experiences, behavior, and physiological responses. These effects were particularly pronounced in formats that differed markedly from the conventional concert format. The study’s results were published in the journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.
A total of 802 participants took part in the study, which consisted of eleven chamber music concerts featuring the same three string quintets, presented with different format components. Individual experience and behavior were recorded using questionnaires, physiological measurements, and cameras. Among other measures, the researchers recorded heart rate, analyzed emotions as expressed through facial expressions, and assessed evaluations, sense of community, and other dimensions of experience.
“We found that aesthetic experience and heart rate were the most sensitive to differences between formats. Appreciation of the music itself and of its performance, by contrast, remained largely unaffected across all formats,” reports first author Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann, Director at the MPIEA.
The concerts took place in Berlin at the Pierre-Boulez-Saal and at the Radialsystem—two venues that differ notably in their architectural, visual, and acoustic characteristics, as well as in comfort and program components. In addition, there were differences among the three ensembles and in the musical program curation. The results showed that a high-quality concert hall facilitated deeper immersion in the performance. Participants also found it easier to engage emotionally with the music when a presenter explained its meaning in an accessible and personal way. This also increased tolerance for contemporary works. Furthermore, the findings suggested that an intense musical experience does not necessarily coincide with a strong sense of community, but may instead potentially compete with it.
“Through dialogue with artistic directors, concert managers, musicians, and students, the study’s findings could be used in the future to better tailor formats to audience needs. In this way, the classical concert—whose existential crisis has been discussed for some time—could be made more appealing,” Wald-Fuhrmann concludes.
The study is part of the broader research project “Experimental Concert Research”, which aims to gain insights into the experience of music in concert settings while taking into account individual aspects such as the music itself, the listening context, and listeners’ characteristics. Drawing on findings from multiple experimental live and streamed concerts, the team seeks to establish a larger, empirically grounded model of musical experience in concert.
The following institutions were involved in the study:
Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media, Hanover, Germany
University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
MPIEA:
Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann
sek.musik@ae.mpg.de
University of Cologne
Wald-Fuhrmann, M., Herget, A.-K., Kreuzer, M., & Egermann, H. (2026). Concert Formats Influence How Audiences Experience Live Classical Music. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 13, Article 160. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-06461-9
Concerts as part of the research: questionnaires, physiological measurements, and cameras were used ...
Source: Phil Dera
Copyright: Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA)
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