Margulis Revisited: Once More on Program Notes and Audience Enjoyment
Location
Allegheny B, Hotel Madison, JMU
Start Date
4-5-2019 4:00 PM
Description
In a 2010 study, Elizabeth Margulis finds that audiences enjoy classical music less when they read information about the piece before they hear it. This conclusion is surprising because conventional wisdom suggests that such pre-concert information would increase an audience member's enjoyment. To gain further perspective, I conducted a similar study on JMU’s campus which differed from Margulis’ in several ways. For example, participants attended a live concert rather than listening to excerpts of music through headphones. I created a survey that asked participants questions about their experience at a concert they attended at the Forbes Center, JMU's concert venue. These questions included: what kind of pre-concert information (i.e. program notes or speaker) they received; what type of information they received; and how their enjoyment was affected. During this presentation, I will discuss the results of this survey, which, in some cases, contradict the results of Margulis’ study.
Presentation Type
Presentation
Margulis Revisited: Once More on Program Notes and Audience Enjoyment
Allegheny B, Hotel Madison, JMU
In a 2010 study, Elizabeth Margulis finds that audiences enjoy classical music less when they read information about the piece before they hear it. This conclusion is surprising because conventional wisdom suggests that such pre-concert information would increase an audience member's enjoyment. To gain further perspective, I conducted a similar study on JMU’s campus which differed from Margulis’ in several ways. For example, participants attended a live concert rather than listening to excerpts of music through headphones. I created a survey that asked participants questions about their experience at a concert they attended at the Forbes Center, JMU's concert venue. These questions included: what kind of pre-concert information (i.e. program notes or speaker) they received; what type of information they received; and how their enjoyment was affected. During this presentation, I will discuss the results of this survey, which, in some cases, contradict the results of Margulis’ study.