LIVELab Choir presents: Conducting Against the Room

"Conducting Against the Room” is led by an international research partnership between McMaster University, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW, Switzerland), and the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (Germany), together with Danish conductor Prof. Morten Schuldt-Jensen who has brought together a local "pop-up choir" of singers from the GTHA.

The project explores how singers and conductors adapt to different room acoustics and how this may shape vocal effort, ensemble sound, and the audience experience. 

The Concert

A 15-minute "Science Snapshot" from LIVELab's Dr. Lauren Fink will open the concert event, explaining the virtual acoustics system of the LIVELab and the mobile physiological sensors LIVELab has to measure singer and audience reactions. Audiences will be invited (but absolutely not required!) to participate in our live experiment.

An approximately 45-minute choral concert program will follow the Science Snapshot, consisting of music from composers Gustav Holst, Anton Bruckner, Maurice Duruflé, as well as renowned Scandinavian composers. 

There are two chances to see the concert:

Sunday, April 19th and Monday, April 20th, 2026

On both days, doors open at 7pm and the concert starts at 7:30pm, running approximately 1 hour. 

Student tickets: $11

General Admission: $22

The Conductor                       

Morten Schuldt-Jensen

Morten Schuldt-Jensen is an internationally acclaimed Danish conductor and choral specialist. Former Professor of Choral & Orchestral Conducting in Freiburg (until 2024), he was Chief Director of Choral Activities at the Leipzig Gewandhaus (1999–2006) and founder of the internationally renowned Gewandhaus Chamber Choir. As choir master, he has worked with world-class ensembles – including the Berlin Philharmonic – and alongside maestros such as Sir Simon Rattle and Sir John Eliot Gardiner.