Hamilton Music Collective’s program An Instrument For Every Child (AIFEC) has been presented with an exciting opportunity for AIFEC’s Grade 1 students to visit McMaster University’s Institute for Music and the Mind. The Institute’s LIVELab is a unique research centre and performance space, which enables cutting edge multi-faceted analysis of complex questions of human interaction related to music, hearing, vision, movement, and learning.
On Wednesday, March 29th approximately 150 students from six Grade 1 classes from AIFEC’s inner-city partner schools including Cathy Weaver, St. Joseph’s, Dr. Davey, Prince of Wales, and Holy Name Of Jesus will tour the space and will be introduced to the concept of sound, technology, music and science. The interactive sessions take place at 9:30am and 11:30am and will be run by LIVELab staff, graduate students, with a special appearance by LIVELab Technical Director, Dr. Dan Bosnyak.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for our AIFEC participants to learn about the scientific side of music in an exciting and interactive way,” said Astrid Hepner, founder and CEO of Hamilton Music Collective. “We are looking forward to building an ongoing partnership with this groundbreaking facility and its amazing team under the leadership of Dr. Laurel Trainor.”
The LIVE (Large Interactive Virtual Environment) Lab is a unique 100-seat research performance hall designed to investigate the experience of music, dance, multimedia presentations, and human interaction. The space includes active acoustics control, sound recording equipment, and measurement of behavioural response and physiological measures including movement, brain activity (EEG), muscle activation (EMG), heart rate, breathing rate, and sweat responses (GSR) in up to 32 audience members and up to 4 on-stage performers simultaneously.
“Children love science when presented in a context that is meaningful to them. In this program young children learn about how the brain processes music. We are looking forward to working with HMC on this event to bring together music and science in a fun, engaging way,” said Laurel Trainor, founding and current Director of MIMM.
The Hamilton Music Collective is a non-profit founded in 2008 dedicated to bringing the gift of music to young people. HMC’s mission is to invigorate the music scene in Hamilton through professional live performances, education, events, and workshops. A key initiative of HMC is AIFEC, a musical education program that introduces music to young people, including many disadvantaged children, with instruction provided by professional musicians.
The Hamilton Music Collective thanks its sponsors and supporters for making these initiatives possible.
Read our previous article about the amazing LIVELab here!
