Concerts were cancelled during the lockdowns imposed to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. As such, the pandemic has made digital concerts become the new norm. Yet such digital events often challenge the relationship between performer and audience by compromising the experience of liveness. Using Participatory Action Research methods, I will work with women* and girls to collaboratively create online piano performances where I am the main performer. Audience feedback and my own reflections as the performer, supported by literature review, will inform knowledge about the intensification of the relational and affective aspects of the music experience and its impact on the sense of liveness. The project focusses on audiences of women and girls, considering the lack of opportunities for these groups in terms of their participation in classical music. In this way, this project seeks to contribute positive change towards more inclusive music practices for the post-pandemic and digitalised world.
*Any person who is self-identified as a woman.