The Performance Laboratory - learning in the spotlight

Suitable for 14 to 19-year-olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom or shared with students online.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5 Music, Music Technology and Performing Arts.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks:
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• This teaching resource explains the work of Aaron Williamon, Richard Bland and George Waddell who have been leading efforts at London’s Royal College of Music to develop its Performance Laboratory into a world class simulation facility. It uses the latest tech to help performers experience factors that can affect a performance and learn how to manage them effectively.
• This resource also contains interviews with Richard and George, providing insight into careers in music technology and performance science.
• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on the team’s work, and tasks them to design a performance science experiment.

This resource was first published on Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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