Special concert will help research to improve hearing aids

Academics from the Cadenza Project, working with the Manchester Camerata orchestra, are inviting people with and without hearing loss to the Stoller Hall on October 29 to be part of a special research concert. The concert will feature Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, the Pastoral Symphony.

The Cadenza project, led by the University of Salford, is researching how to improve music for people with hearing loss.  The free concert is a unique opportunity to shape future research on hearing aids while enjoying live music.

 

Trevor Cox, Professor of acoustic engineering at the University of Salford explains: “We don’t think anything like this has been attempted before and

“When people suffer hearing loss the main treatments is a hearing aid. But the devices are designed for speech. Music is an afterthought and the experience for listeners is often mixed

 

“But music is such an important part of our lives, it brings us together for shared experiences that people with hearing issues can feel locked out of. Live classical music is particularly hard for hearing aids to deal with, as it ranges from extremely quiet to very louder, over a wide range of frequencies.

 

“This is a unique opportunity for people, both with hearing problems and those who hear normally to help shape future research on hearing aids while enjoying the fabulous Camerata.”

 

To start with the Camerata will play a movement from the symphony and the audience can just sit back and enjoy. The orchestra will then perform short excerpts in different ways to explore common problems people with hearing loss have. The audience will give feedback on each rendition via a simple questionnaire. The Camerata will finally play another movement, where attendees can just relax and listen, or do an optional additional research task.

 

The answers given will help researchers develop new ways to improve music for those who have a hearing loss and/or hearing aids. Results will also be published in scientific papers.

 

The event will finish with a short Q&A with experts from the Cadenza project, where the audience can ask about hearing loss, hearing aids and listening to music.

 

Clara Marshall Cawley – Head of Artistic Programming at Manchester Camerata, said: “Music Health and wellbeing are at the heart of our organisation, seeing first-hand the impact music can have on people both on and off the stage.

 

“Manchester Camerata exists to transform everyone’s lives through exceptional music - so the work the Cadenza Project is doing to make orchestral music more accessible is profoundly important to us and we can’t wait to be a part of this project.”

 

The research concert is designed for anyone who enjoys listening to classical music. No specialist listening or analytical skills are needed.

 

The team need an audience that has a mixture of people with and without hearing loss. If you would normally listen to music with hearing aids or a cochlear implant, please use them.The Cadenza Project is a 5-year UKRI-funded research project involving the Universities of Salford, Sheffield, Nottingham and Leeds.

 

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