Exhibition explores science behind music’s emotional impact
Florence Lockheart
Friday, September 16, 2022
The exhibition will premiere on 21 October as the Manchester Science Festival’s headline exhibition before going on tour
Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum will next month open Turn It Up: The power of music, an immersive exhibition exploring our emotional responses to music.
Made up of interactive installations, music-making opportunities and inventions, and testimony from musicians, the exhibition will premiere on 21 October as the Manchester Science Festival’s headline exhibition. It will run until 21 May 2023 before going on a national and international tour.
Curator of exhibitions at the Science and Industry Museum, Steven Leech, said: ‘We are incredibly excited to be able to bring to life for the first time the astounding and universal story of the mystery of music and the incredible ways that it impacts all aspects of our lives.’
The exhibition presents research into how music influences our emotions, our shopping habits, and our health and wellbeing. It includes contributions from classical music organisations including the Royal Northern College of Music, English National Opera (ENO), Manchester Camerata and Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
It will also include a collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who will play a new commission,created in partnership with children’s mental health charity, Place2Be, which is designed to carry the listener through a range of emotions and improve children’s emotional literacy.
Guest curator Dr Emily Scott-Dearing, from Oxford University Museum of Natural History, commented: ‘We are restless in our musical creativity – always looking for new ways of innovating and expressing ourselves. And we are profoundly affected by music – from feeling the musical ‘chills’ to its ability to lift our mood, calm our nerves or boost our performance. ‘
Visitors will see unusual instruments such as the 19th century Pyrophone organ powered by flames and can learn about studies including ENO Breathe, an online breathing and wellbeing programme designed in partnership with the ENO using singing to help people experiencing breathlessness as a result of long Covid.
As part of the exhibition programme, the museum will also host an evening of live music, art and performance on 22 October.
You can find out more about the exhibition (including tickets) here.
