RCA collaborates on launch of new vision for London Philharmonic Orchestra

Working with creative agency Ace of Hearts, the London Philharmonic Orchestra invited eight Royal College of Art postgraduate artists, mentored by RCA Professor of Communication Neville Brody OBE, to each listen to a different piece of music and create an artwork in response - capturing the emotions, thoughts and memories the music sparked in them.

From Monday 21 September for a week, a specially-built installation of the original artworks, each paired with a set of headphones, located at Vinegar Yard in London, will see passers-by invited to listen to the piece of music that inspired each artwork, experiencing the power of orchestral music and its ability to inspire creativity and evoke emotion. The artworks will also be displayed on billboards around London and across the London Underground.

Art you can see by listening

Each piece of art responds to music the LPO will perform live during its 2026/27 season. The result is a series of artworks that make the invisible impact of music visible. The installation is designed to reach people who may never have considered an orchestral experience “for them” - and encourage them to experience the music live.

Wider research is beginning to reveal how our brains respond differently to live music. A 2024 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that live music elicited stronger and more consistent activity in brain regions involved in processing emotions than recorded music, with listeners’ brain activity responding dynamically as the performance unfolded.

The artists, their artworks and their music inspiration - all performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra:

Ishita Sharma (MFA Communication, 2026), 'That's the sound of your shoulders dropping' - while listening to Saint-Saëns's 'Organ' Symphony, first movement, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Megan Peng (MA Information Experience Design, 2026), 'An Hour of Rush' - while listening to Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, second movement, conducted by Bernard Haitink

Ruwani Rajapakse (MA Information Experience Design, 2026), 'Letting go, one note at a time' - while listening to Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, conducted by Edward Gardner

Zengyue Zhao (MA Information Experience Design, 2026), 'Chaos Perfectly Orchestrated' - while listening to Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony, fourth movement, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski

Yejin Seo (MA Information Experience Design, 2026), 'Strings that say what you can't' - while listening to Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony, fourth movement, conducted by Karina Canellakis

Anna Korbel (MA Visual Communication, 2026), 'Escape in four movements' - while listening to Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, conducted by Kurt Masur

CTZ (MA Visual Communication, 2026), 'Where your brain stops scrolling' - while listening to Mahler's Symphony No. 1, conducted by Klaus Tennstedt

Yunqi Peng (MPhil / PhD Communication), 'Heavy brass, lighter mind' - while listening to Stravinsky's The Firebird, Finale, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski