Andrew Rossetti , 18:00 Uhr, ligeti zentrum

Environmental Music Therapy (EMT) is a live music intervention by music therapists meant to modify perception of potentially stressful environments through constructing dynamic soundscapes to provide enhanced comfort and safety. EMT has been shown to reduce state anxiety, distress, and regulate distortion of waiting time, ultimately changing overall perception and response to the hospital environment. In the bigger picture, EMT may be an affective therapeutic modality of prophylaxis for medically induced trauma and post traumatic stress. This lecture will explore the supporting theories, history, and praxis of EMT in contexts where potentially detrimental or toxic unwanted sound is a concern, and areas, such as hospital waiting rooms and common areas, where it is not. We will discuss two published studies on the subject. Guidelines for application will be presented, and numerous experientials will be provided to elucidate concepts. 

Andrew Rossetti PhD, LCAT, MT-BC 

The Louis Armstrong Center for Music & Medicine, Mount Sinai Healthcare System; New York, USA 

Andrew Rossetti PhD, MT-BC, LCAT, is a clinician, educator, researcher, solicited international speaker, and director of the Louis Armstrong Center for Music & Medicine’s multi-site Music Therapy Program in Oncology at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center. His clinical practice in medical music psychotherapy is grounded in oncology, and includes procedural support for surgery, symptom management in infusion suites and radiation oncology, and the treatment of trauma and post-traumatic stress. His practice extends to intensive care in fragile areas, such as neonatal ICUs and oncology waiting rooms where he specializes in Environmental Music Therapy. His current research includes grant funded projects from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Institute of Health. His work as a consultant has led him to help design and implement music therapy programs in a number of hospitals in Europe. Dr. Rossetti is an international lecturer and has been a frequent invited and keynote speaker at conferences and universities in the US, Asia, South America, Europe, Africa, and Canada. He is the Executive Committee Secretary for the International Association for Music & Medicine, and chair of its ethics committee. Dr. Rossetti is on the faculty of Montclair State University, and the University of Barcelona. His work has been featured in the NY Times, NPR’s Science Friday, and the NBC and CBS national television networks. 

Antti Ikonen, 18:00 Uhr, ligeti zentrum

The New Children's Hospital in Helsinki, Finland, is equipped with a specially designed soothing soundscape. The soundscape can be heard in the hospital's waiting areas, selected corridors, parking garage and elevators, and it’s a permanent part of the interior of the hospital. The soundscape is generative, so it never repeats itself the same. One computer with an audio engine is feeding 60 discreet audio channels over the hospital’s IT network.  

The goal of the added sounds is to improve the comfort of child patients and reduce the tension when visiting a hospital and waiting for treatment and examinations. The sounds aim at providing a small respite, so that the young patients’ thoughts can escape to moments of play experienced in nature or imaginary worlds.  

The soundscape is a combination of nature sounds and musical elements. The subtle sonic ornaments give the opportunity to experience the hospital environment in a different way. The soundscape reflects the fairytale-like visuals of the hospital premises, without forgetting research on how sounds, especially from nature, evoke thoughts and memories. 

The impact of the soundscape was investigated with surveys and interviews. Questionnaires were used to survey the experiences of the hospital staff, the child patients, and their carers in the bed wards. The experiences of the outpatients and their carers were investigated with individual and group interviews. 

According to the research the experience of the child patients and their carers was almost entirely positive. The soundscape increases comfort, reduces stress and tension, and supports the feeling of care and safety. For the patients in the bed wards the soundscape offers a safe channel to nurture an emotional connection to the world outside the hospital. The responses of the outpatients highlighted the relaxing effect of the sound world.  

The soundscape will be updated during 2024 after careful analysis of the feedback.  

Antti Ikonen , Department of Art and Media, Faculty Member; Aalto University, Finland 

Antti Ikonen (b. 1963) is a composer, sound designer and Senior University Lecturer at Aalto University. His work covers music and sound design for a wide range of media, performances and works of art, including contemporary dance, theatre, short films, radio plays, art installations and new media. The soundscape designed for Helsinki New Children’s Hospital was awarded with Grand Prix in International Sound Awards 2019. Since 1990s Ikonen has been teaching in academic institutions in Finland. In 2008 Ikonen founded Sound in New Media MA degree programme which is currently part of Aalto University.  

More information: 

https://aalto-fi.academia.edu/AnttiIkonen 

Marie Koldkjær Højlund, 18:00 Uhr, ligeti zentrum

Engaging with sound design, music composition, and sound art in hospital settings necessitates an ecological and enactive methodology, which involves examining the interactions between actors and their environments as attuning and exploratory agents. Drawing from my Ph.D. research on sound in Danish hospitals and my recent work on sensory delivery rooms, I have developed an attuning approach as a methodological framework. This framework accommodates both the multisensory atmosphere and the active engagement of enactive users through practice-based experiments. 

This research contributes to the expanding field at the intersection of well-being and biomedical treatments in healthcare design. In my presentation, I will discuss the design of the new delivery rooms at Danish regional hospitals in Hjørring and Gødstrup, highlighting the multisensory artwork and soundscapes created for these spaces. The sensory delivery rooms aim to reintroduce art into healthcare environments, supporting caregivers, laboring mothers, and birth companions during this existential and life-changing event. These examples underscore the importance of considering the interplay between cultural and social aspects, and the environment in healing architecture. 

From a broader perspective, a somaesthetic approach to healthcare design opens up a range of ethical considerations and ideas valuable for creating healing healthcare atmospheres. The prevailing clinical paradigm is widely accepted as a “normal” and “neutral” interior space, with a predominant focus on functionality, security, and efficiency. However, from a somaesthetic perspective, no space is neutral. Traditional healthcare aesthetics have created environments that are inhumane for individuals experiencing their most private, extreme, and significant moments, such as childbirth. One could argue that the stark lack of sensitivity to the sensing body and its context reflects a lack of care. Artistic expressions must be developed to support healthcare personnel's acts of care, address patients' profound emotional needs, and utilize state-of-the-art research as a foundation for their work. 

Marie Koldkjær Højlund, Associate Professor of Sound Studies, audio design and musicology Aarhus University, Denmark 

Marie Koldkjær Højlund is an associate professor of sounds studies, audio design and musicology at Aarhus University as well as a composer, musician and preforming sound artist. For years she has been researching what everyday sound environments mean for our way of life. She is interested in listening and sonic citizenship in a variety of contexts from a practice-based and artistic approach.  

Committed to crafting sound technologies for alternative listening experiences, she co-founded The Overheard with Morten Riis, presenting large-scale sound sculptures across Denmark. As a composer, her sonic expressions have reverberated in diverse realms—from bands and albums to compositions for TV, theatre, and computer games. Recently she was honored with the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsens award as a composer. During 2023 and 2024 she is a guest researcher at the Pufendorf Institute of Advanced Studies at Lunds University in the theme "Sound of Democracy". 

More information: 

https://www.au.dk/en/musmkh@cc.au.dk 

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Peter Androsch, 18:00 Uhr, ligeti zentrum

Ich nehme Akustik wörtlich. Bei mir geht es um das Hören, das griechische ἀκούειν, und nicht um Sound basteln. Es geht um das Hören als kreativen und politischen Akt. Das lässt sich schon am Wort Per-son erkennen. Daran kann man Schall als conditio sine qua non ablesen, denn es heißt einfach DURCH-KLINGER. Schall ist Garant für die volle Teilhabe an der Gesellschaft, dass der Mensch nämlich eine Stimme hat und Gehör findet. Und Nicht-Hören geht nicht. Wir hören immer. Als Schutz vor Gefahren. Und auch um Raum zu hören. Hören ist der wichtigste Sinn, der über alles hinter dem Rücken informiert. Damit das so funktioniert, funktioniert das Hören zum größten Teil unbewusst. Durchaus reflexartig. Das nennen wir das Schnelle Hören. Damit das Hören, das uns das Leben rettet, gelingt, wissen wir nicht, was und wie wir hören. Das ist der Preis für das Schnelle Hören. Es gibt praktisch kein bewusstes Hören. Aber es gibt ein integriertes, ein systemisches Hören. Es bedeutet, dass alle Sinne im Hirn "zusammengerechnet" werden. Und zwar zu einem sinnvollen und vor allem widerspruchsfreien Bild der Welt. 

Peter Androsch, Kunstuniversität Linz, Österreich 

Peter Androsch kann man getrost als Universalkünstler bezeichnen. Er ist als Musiker, Komponist, Raum- und Schriftkünstler, Forscher, Schreiber und Vortragender international tätig. Als Musikdirektor der Europäischen Kulturhauptstadt Linz 2009 gründete er die Hörstadt, ein Labor für Akustik, Raum und Gesellschaft (hoerstadt.at). An der Kunstuniversität Linz leitet er das Co.Lab Akustischen Ökologie (https://www.kunstuni-linz.at/kunstforschung/colabs/colab-akustische-oekologie). 2023 wurde ihm der Österreichische Staatspreis für Kunst verliehen.  

Mehr Information:  

peterandrosch.at 

hoerstadt.at 

drdidi.at 

die-schule.at 

base.at/monochrombleu 

soundinglinz.at 

Foto: Lili Androsch 

Tanja Vollmer, 18:00 Uhr, ligeti zentrum

Abstract 

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Affiliation 

Kopvol Architecture & Psychology, Rotterdam-Berlin 

Profil 

Prof. Dr. Tanja C. Vollmer 

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