Integrate an orchestra increases capabilities cognitive

Pupils participating in the EmoDémos project, which aims to open the doors of classical music to children aged 7 to 12 living in urban policy neighbourhoods (QPV) or in rural revitalisation areas (ZRR) far from places of practice in France. Romain Bassenne - The EmoDémos project - led by the University of Geneva among children aged 7 to 12 years - has shown that playing an instrument in an orchestra can facilitate the acquisition of cognitive and emotional skills in two years. Does being part of an orchestra from a very early age have an impact on cognitive and emotional capacities' The Cité de la musique - Philharmonie de Paris set about answering this question by commissioning researchers from the University of Geneva , Switzerland, the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique de Paris (IRCAM), France, and the University of Genoa, Italy. The researchers were tasked with undertaking a two-year study into the development and evolution of the cognitive and social skills of 300 children aged 7 to 12 years living in disadvantaged urban areas or disadvantaged rural areas at some distance from the usual places where classical music is taught and practiced in France. The results, which will be published in the book Together in Music: Participation, Coordination, and Creativity in Ensembles (Oxford University Press), reveal that after two years of playing music as part of a group, the memory, cognitive flexibility, autonomy and empathy of the children improved at a higher rate - five times higher - than the published measurements on standard tests.