A soothing study session: Students cram in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw as musicians play

AMSTERDAM (AP) — 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.

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 have 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 and helping in concentrating on the work that we have to do, which is something that surprises me because normally I don’t really listen to classical music," Mulder said. “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 Wi-Fi network. A ticket for the session is just 2.50 euros ($2.85).

“It’s one of the many ways to welcome younger audiences to the Concertgebouw,” said 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 ways to more or less seduce younger audiences to discover the Concertgebouw and hopefully they will be enthusiastic and ... they will come back,” Reinink said.

Professor Bas Bloem, a neurologist at the Radboud University Medical Center in the Dutch city of Nijmegen, says that while music can disturb some people's concentration, it can help others to focus.

“So it’s not a one size fits all. And I don’t think it’s been well researched, but I think the reason why music in the background can be so soothing almost, is that it creates a state of flow,” he told The Associated Press.

"And I think music in the background can help you to reach a state of flow. And everybody knows when you reach a state of flow, you can go on endlessly and be enormously productive.”

Medicine student Thijmen Broekman said that the music combined with just being somewhere different from where he usually studies helped him enjoy learning and music at the same time. He said he wasn't distracted by listening to music and studying at the same time.

“It’s a really quiet environment and nice, quiet music," Broekman said. “So that helps me to concentrate.”