Our Research Updates in Archways give a snapshot of the Rice ARCHES Initiative’s current work, research progress, and future directions

Project CHROMA Completes Another Music Course

This month Sarah Roberts, a Research Assistant in the BMED Lab, tells us about Project CHROMA’s progress and recent music class.

More than two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rice University no longer requires masks for vaccinated students anywhere on campus, except for classes where mask usage is determined by professors. Weekly testing is voluntary, and at-home rapid tests are free and available for student use.

Across the street at the BMED Lab, Project CHROMA has maintained much of the COVID protocol. Masks are still required for staff and students interacting with participants, and proper cleaning procedures are still in place. Participants are additionally contacted via phone and screened for COVID symptoms prior to arriving for their visit at the lab. Despite these additional safety measures, Project CHROMA rang in the new year with the first music class for participants since pre-pandemic times.

Held at the Moody Center for Arts on Rice University campus, participants attended the class in person three times a week for a 2-hour class. Composer Dr. Karl Blench led the creativity workshops and centered his teaching around making music in a non-traditional manner, turning household items into instruments, and composing melodies from everyday sounds. After 6 weeks, participants concluded their time with a concert featuring the newly acquired skills and compositions. Friends and family attended, eager to see their loved ones’ progress and to hear their newly acquired music skills.

Now, three weeks out from the concert, CHROMA has a new set of 7 participants attending music classes and has a fourth class planned for the fall.

See https://coronavirus.rice.edu/ for more information on how Rice is minimizing COVID-19 transmission risk on campus and keeping the community safe!