ESRC: Students learning in harmony

How are musical performers created? Are there better ways of creating them? Can we apply these findings to learners in different fields such as footballers and mathematicians? These are just some of the questions that have been asked by researchers. There will be opportunity to discuss the findings from the research project with the students as well as hearing what other professionals have to say about them and then a chance for audience discussion. Students from London’s Royal College of Music (RCM) will be performing a range of music including Mozart, Rachmaninov and Bartok as part of an evening of entertainment and learning about the lives of musicians. The event has been organised as part of the Economic and Social Research Council’s Festival of Social Science week.

The evening is being held on Friday March 14th between 6pm and 9pm at the Parry Rooms, the Royal College of Music. It is free to attend and is suitable for music lovers or anyone wanting to know more about the world of music. The evening includes performances by four of the RCM’s talented young performers: Francesca Barritt who began learning the violin aged nine, pianists Thomas Bernard and Agnieszka Pluta as well as soprano Rosie Coad. The event promises to be a lively mix of music and discussion. It will provide an opportunity for those attending to learn about life in music schools- known as ‘conservatoires‘- as well as how students become musicians and their plans for the future.

The performers are all participants in the Learning to Perform Project, which is based at the RCM. The aim of this research study was to investigate exactly how musical performers are born and develop. Findings from this three-year psychological study of RCM students will also be presented on the evening, giving an insight into how music students learn and how this relates to the world of social science.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Royal College of Music: Rosie Perkins, research officer Tel: 02075914781 or 07967365644, e-mail: rperkins@rcm.ac.uk
Christine Yau Tel: 02075914771
ESRC Press Office:
Kelly Barnett on Tel: 01793 413032; e-mail: kelly.barnett@esrc.ac.uk
Danielle Moore on Tel: 01793 413122; e-mail: danielle.moore@esrc.ac.uk

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

1. The research project Learning to Perform was sponsored by the ESRC and carried out by Dr Janet Mills (until December 2007) and Rosie Perkins at the Royal College of Music, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BS. For more information on the Learning to Perform project www.learningtoperform.org.uk.
2. The Festival of Social Science week is run by the Economic and Social Research Council which runs from the 7th to the 16th March 2008, alongside National Science and Engineering Week. It celebrates some of the very best British social science research, as well as highlighting the ways in which social science makes a difference to everyday lives. Press releases detailing some of the varied events are available at www.esrcfestival.ac.uk
3. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest funding agency for research and postgraduate training relating to social and economic issues. It supports independent, high quality research relevant to business, the public sector and voluntary organisations. The ESRC’s planned total expenditure in 2007 - 08 is £181 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and research policy institutes. More at http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk
4. ESRC Society Today offers free access to a broad range of social science research and presents it in a way that makes it easy to navigate and saves users valuable time. As well as bringing together all ESRC-funded research and key online resources such as the Social Science Information Gateway and the UK Data Archive, non-ESRC resources are included, for example the Office for National Statistics. The portal provides access to early findings and research summaries, as well as full texts and original datasets through integrated search facilities. More at http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk