Do you ever feel refreshed and re-energized after seeing your favorite bands live? A new scientific study may have the answer to why that is.

In April of this year, UK researchers Daisy Fancourt and Aaron Williamon published the results of their study which reported that attending a live cultural event lowered cortisol (the hormone most commonly associated with stress) levels. In this case, the cultural event was live music. The selected artist was grammy winning composer Eric Whitacre, a world renowned artist known best for his compositions and his virtual choirs, which united singers from across the globe.

The researchers recruited 49 subjects from Whitacre’s first concert in London and 68 from a second concert, for a total of 117 in the sample. They took saliva samples both before and after and found a reduction of cortisol levels in the second sample. While this study only covered one musical genre, it is noteworthy and opens doors to more research to see if similar effects occur in across the board.

“This is the first preliminary evidence that attending a cultural event can have an impact on endocrine activity,” said Fancourt, the researcher from the Centre for Performance Science in London.

With all of the concerts that we have been producing lately, it’s rewarding to learn that there is even more of a benefit for our clients and their audiences outside of their auditory and visual senses.