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All year long CIVIS Open Lab Music Ensembles

The project leverages music as a tool for social inclusion, engaging university student musicians to support individuals from vulnerable social contexts, including people with dementia and related disorders.

Concerts will be held across European cities, involving patients, caregivers, students, and the wider community, promoting solidarity and shared cultural experiences.

By uniting musicians from diverse traditions, the project celebrates multiculturalism, strengthens emotional recognition, and builds bridges between communities. It aims to create public good through active participation, cultural exchange, and intergenerational engagement, enhancing social cohesion and reducing isolation.

Through music, the project fosters meaningful connections, inclusivity, and collective well-being for all participants, combining artistic expression with therapeutic and educational impact.

Main Beneficiaries & Social Impact

Beneficiaries benefit from the project through meaningful learning opportunities, strengthened capacities, and expanded networks created around inclusive cultural practices. By using music as a tool for inclusion, the project offers real-world experiences that foster empathy, awareness, and practical skills related to working with people living with dementia and other vulnerable social groups.

The concerts promote social interaction, stimulate memory, and enhance emotional well-being for people with dementia and their caregivers, while also creating shared spaces of solidarity and participation. Beyond the direct beneficiaries, the project raises awareness among a broad range of stakeholders involved in the events, including ushers, audiences, cultural professionals, and collaborating organizations.

Through the open workshops and public-facing activities included in the programme’s deliverables, institutions and participants gain knowledge on inclusive artistic practices and dementia-friendly approaches, strengthening collaboration across the cultural and social sectors. The expected social impact includes increased public awareness, improved skills and sensitivity among cultural actors, stronger community networks, and the promotion of inclusive cultural policies and practices.

Core Methodology

Intensive experiential workshops provide participating students the fundamental knowledge about dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, and develop and enhance their performing and interpersonal skills in interacting with this special audience.

The workshops also introduce the methodology and theoretical framework underpinning “relaxed” concerts - performances tailored to the needs of people with dementia.

A handbook of best practices will be developed for designing, organizing, implementing, and evaluating concerts that foster well-being, memory stimulation, and social interaction.

Events in the Project

Event Name

Date(s)

Location

Interdisciplinary Workshops - Relaxed Concerts: design and implementation

7, 8 & 9. 01. 2026

Department of Music Studies, NKUA

Concert

10.01.2026

Olympia Musicipality Music Theatre Maria Callas, Athens

Concert

27.04.2026

Colmenar Viejo Residential Home for Older Persons, Madrid

Concert

05.2026

Rome

Partners

Partner Name

Type

Bio

Labrador German

Academic

Germán Labrador López de Azcona is an Associate Professor and PhD in History and Musicology at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, specializing in 18th-century court music, musical theatre, and audiovisual media.

Panagiotis Poulos

Academic

Panagiotis Poulos is Assistant Professor in Ethnomusicology – Music Cultures of the Near and Middle East at the Department of Music Studies, NKUA. His research centres on the music traditions of the Near and Middle East with particular focus on Ottoman and Turkish urban musics and soundscapes.

 

Christina Anagnostopoulou

Academic

Christina Anagnostopoulou is Associate Professor in music informatics and cognition at the Department of Music Studies, NKUA. She has taught at the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow on various topics in music analysis and AI, and from 2002 to 2006 she was a lecturer at the Department of Music and Sonic Arts, Queen’s University Belfast.

 

Christiana Adamopoulou

Academic

Christiana Adamopoulou is Specialized Eduational Staff at the Department of Music Studies, NKUA. Her research interests cover a wide range of subjects, including music therapy with young adults, music therapy and special education, adult learning, and community music.

 

Zoe Zeniodi

Academic

Zoe Zeniodi is Music Conductor, Assistant Professor at the Department of Music Studies, NKUA.  Zoe is known for her passionate and intense performances in symphonic and operatic repertoire alike, as well as for her work as a pianist in chamber music and song repertoire.

 

Project coordinator