A special classical concert which aims to improve hearing aids comes to the Stoller Hall

A unique classical concert which aims to improve the experience of people with hearing loss who want to enjoy music is coming to Manchester this October.

Academics from the Cadenza Project, working with the Manchester Camerata orchestra, are inviting people with and without hearing loss to a special research show at the Stoller Hall on Thu 29 Oct. 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. When people suffer hearing loss, the main treatment 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, 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.”