At These Study Sessions, Expect Lots of Music

From the stage of Amsterdam's historic concert hall, violinist Hyunjin Cho and cellist Efstratia Chaloulakou look out over row after row of young faces illuminated by the glow of laptop screens. The plush red seats of the Concertgebouw's main auditorium are occupied by students cramming for upcoming exams and finishing dissertations as classical music fills the hall. The students aren't being rude by ignoring the musicians. At this event, they're meant to be studying—and the music is intended to assist rather than distract them, per the AP.

The study sessions were first organized during the COVID-19 pandemic by Entree, the youth association of the Concertgebouw, to help students improve their concentration and introduce them to the charms of classical music. They've been a hit ever since. During a recent session, musicians played German composer Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D, some Handel and Schubert, and even a little movie music from Studio Ghibli animation films for good measure. The sounds filled a space whose walls are decorated with the gilded names of famous composers from Ravel to Mahler, Wagner to Mozart.

The music helped 21-year-old Kyra Mulder focus on a project for her occupational therapy degree at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. "It's actually very calming," Mulder says. "Normally I don't really listen to classical music ... so that's a new experience for me." As the musicians played, more students wandered into the concert hall, some clutching cups of coffee along with their computers and books that they proceeded to perch on their laps. Signs advertise the password of the venue's free WiFi network. A ticket for the session is about $2.85.

"It's one of the many ways to welcome younger audiences to the Concertgebouw," says the venue's general director, Simon Reinink. "And it's such an inspiring place to study with great music in this wonderful, beautiful environment." He hopes the event will help visitors study, but also inspire a new generation to appreciate classical music and return for more. "It is one of [the] ways to more or less seduce younger audiences to discover the Concertgebouw, and hopefully they will be enthusiastic and ... they will come back," Reinink says.