Abstract:
Kelsey Onderdijk (IPEM) and Dana Swarbrick (RITMO) will present their paper on three livestream concert experiments that were executed last summer. The main focus of these experiments was to explore how feelings of social connectedness can be fostered in virtual environments (i.e. livestreamed concerts), and to investigate how attending a virtual concert interacted with ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., loneliness, anxiety). Three main concepts were under investigation: agency, presence, and social context, that each required a different setup. Results provided insights into the role of parasocial interactions, music as social surrogacy, and concepts best suited to facilitate social connectedness and alleviate loneliness.
Bios:
Kelsey E. Onderdijk is currently working as a doctoral researcher at IPEM – Ghent University’s research institute for systematic musicology in Ghent, Belgium. After completing a bachelor in Musicology and a research master in Brain and Cognitive Sciences (both obtained at the University of Amsterdam), she is now using her interdisciplinary approach to study the field of embodied music cognition. Although her interests convey a wide variety, her main focus at IPEM has been on feelings of unity and social connectedness. The aim of her PhD is to aid construction of augmented music realities where these feelings are facilitated and fostered.
Dana Swarbrick is a doctoral researcher in musicology at UiO's RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rhythm, Time and Motion. Her research examines the social and emotional outcomes of musicking, with particular interest on audiences at live musical events. She conducted her MSc in rehabilitation sciences at the University of Toronto examining the effects of high-intensity cardiovascular exercise on piano learning. Her BSc thesis at McMaster University examined the effect of live music and fan-status on head movements at a rock concert. During the coronavirus crisis, Dana's research focus has shifted to the burgeoning field of pandemusicology examining the social effects of virtual concerts and other coronamusicking.