Studenții CIVIS aduc muzica în lumea pacienților cu demență și a îngrijitorilor acestora

After two powerful and emotionally resonant concerts in Athens and Madrid, the All‑year‑long CIVIS Open Lab Music Ensembles is now looking ahead to its next stop: Rome! Students and musicians from SUR, NKUA and UAM will reunite for the third time this year in a series of concerts designed as “relaxed performances”, events tailored to the needs of people living with dementia and other memory-related conditions.

The programme began in early January in Athens with three days of interdisciplinary workshops introducing students to dementia-friendly concert design. The sessions explored the theory behind relaxed performances and offered hands-on training in communication, audience interaction, and accessible artistic practice.

These workshops are a key component of the larger CIVIS Open Labs initiative, which aims to foster inclusive artistic practices and cross-sector collaboration. By engaging students with real-world scenarios, the programme seeks to build empathy, expand awareness, and cultivate future cultural professionals equipped to serve diverse communities.

For a large part of their lives, musicians are preoccupied with achieving high performance standards, often navigating highly competitive educational and professional environments - particularly within the field of Western art music. In doing so, we may gradually lose sight of a simple yet essential question: for whom and for what purpose do we perform? The audience can easily become an abstract notion, sometimes perceived as a group of listeners ready to judge our technical and artistic competence

A concert built on training, empathy, and collaboration

The training culminated in a public concert on 10 January at the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre Maria Callas, where seven musicians from Sapienza joined the NKUA Chamber Orchestra under conductor Zoe Zeniodi. More than 400 audience members attended, including about 50 people living with dementia and their caregivers.

The event followed the model of relaxed concerts, an inclusive performance approach designed to provide a comfortable environment for individuals with memory difficulties. Ushers, theatre staff, and students from NKUA’s Department of Music Studies were trained to support attendees, ensuring a calm and welcoming atmosphere throughout.

The programme featured Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Shostakovich, Gardel, Johann Strauss, and iconic Greek selections, creating a shared musical experience that resonated deeply with both musicians and audience members. Thanos Economou, one of the volunteering students performing on stage, shared his feelings:

For the first time, as a student of music, I realise how many different dimensions music holds. It is both an art and a science, capable of expressing generosity and compassion. I feel grateful to have been part of this experience

Music as a tool for inclusion and social impact

The social benefits of the project extend far beyond a single concert. Organisers emphasise that dementia-friendly musical environments can stimulate memory, encourage social interaction, and improve emotional well-being for both patients and caregivers. At the same time, the events raise awareness across the broader community, including theatre personnel, cultural workers, local audiences, and partner institutions.

In April, the musicians and students have reconvened in Madrid, for new workshops, rehearsals, and another dementia‑inclusive concert shaped by the same principles of accessibility, empathy, and community engagement.

Following Madrid, the musicians will meet again in Rome, on 11 May (17:30 CET):

Organising the latest two editions of the CIVIS Academy Orchestra (Rome 2025 and Bucharest 2026), I realised that the opportunities offered by the CIVIS Open Lab could be a perfect completion of this experience - as meeting just a few days once a year is not ideal to really build a trans-national group of musicians, scattered around Europe. Moreover, we decided to put a special focus for these 3 meetings on the impact of music for dementia and elder patients. And the universality and immateriality of the music language have a great impact on those people, too, and not not only for the students that took part to the project. This focus added an additional deep and unique human experience for all the participants.

This series of events is meant to:

• deepen students’ practical experience with inclusive cultural practices;
• engage local audiences and organizations working with dementia;
• foster collaboration across music departments and European cultural institutions;
• reinforce the growing network of practitioners dedicated to inclusive arts.

Instead of focusing solely on the musicians, we sought to bring attention to the relationship between performers and audience. Who are the people sitting in front of us? Who has access to our music, and who might be excluded? How can the selected repertoire truly meet listeners where they are? What adjustments might concert spaces require in order to become more welcoming and accessible? And, perhaps most importantly, what kind of awareness, sensitivity, and skills do we as musicians need to cultivate in order to respond to the diverse needs of those we play for?

A growing European effort

Supported by the CIVIS European University Alliance, the initiative reflects a long-term commitment to inclusive cultural policies and socially engaged artistic education. With each iteration, the Open Lab activities help expand networks among universities, social organizations, and cultural institutions, reinforcing a shared European vision of accessibility and community-oriented arts.

This series of concerts stands as a clear testament to this mission: a moving performance that blends musical excellence with compassion, learning, and cross-border collaboration and one that resonates deeply with the audience it seeks to welcome most.

*Special thanks to:

• Project coordinator prof. Daniele Gorla (SUR) and Mattia D'Aloia for the image support on this article;
• Maria Gravanni, NKUA CIVIS Student Ambassador, for conducting the interviews

**story updated on 30 April