The results of the pioneering research regarding the Jamie’s Concerts were disclosed at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on June 12, 2017.
Subsidized by the Guildhall School of Music, this academic research was conducted by Dr. Mirjam James and Noriko Ogawa, pianist and founder of the Jamie’s Concert.
Launched in 2004 in Kawasaki, Japan, Noriko’s home town, Jamie’s Concerts have been also held in the UK since 2010 for those who are not normally able to go to concerts, such as parents of children with autism or another disability. The appointment of Noriko as Cultural Ambassador of National Autistic Society (NAS), UK, familiarized this event further to British people.
For the first ever academic research of this unique concert series, Dr. James and Noriko had been collecting the data over several months 2015/2016 by giving out detailed questionnaires to the audiences attending concerts in the UK as well as Japan and conducting interviews with some audience members which they later analyzed. This project had the aim to:
1) Explore experiences of primary care-givers of autistic children visiting a specially organized concert
2) Identify and describe key aspects of that experience (musical, social and emotional)
3) Establish to what extent the engagement with Jamie’s Concerts can be considered to be “therapeutic”, without claiming to be therapy
The results clarified the Jamie’s Concert’s originalities and effects, while offering its bright prospects for the future.
Please read the whole academic report made by Dr. James (in English, 17 pages totally, PDF).
-LINK-
To know what is the Jamie’s Concert, please refer to ‘About Jamie’s Concert’ .
Our heartfelt thanks are owed to all who readily supported this research.
