Dr Veerle Spronck (V.G.A.J.)

Dr. Veerle Spronck works as a researcher at the Maastricht Centre for the Innovation of Classical Music (MCICM). There she investigates the role(s) that classical music can play in today's society.

In July 2022, Veerle obtained her PhD at Maastricht University with an ethnographic study on the innovation of participation in classical music practices entitled Listen Closely. She analyzed how Dutch symphony orchestras experiment with the role of their audience in order to make their practice socially and artistically relevant in new ways. During her PhD research, she also worked with fellow researchers, orchestra staff and musicians on setting up public concert-experiments such as The People’s Salon, and creating a learning model for changing orchestral practice. She continued organising and designing such concert experiments in 2023 and 2024.

Building on her interdisciplinary background in Art History (Vrije Universiteit) and Science & Technology Studies / Artistic Research (CAST, Maastricht University), Veerle works ethnographically and practice-oriented. In her research, she engages in artistic experiments and collaborates with artists, designers, musicians, theatre makers, and cultural institutions. The (artistic) research methods that Veerle uses and develops move along with and listen closely to the particular practice she engages with. Research does not always have to result in written text - sometimes making an exhibition, drawing or developing études  is more appropriate.

Veerle only works for Maastricht University for 10% of her time. Most of the week she is affiliated with HKU (University of the Arts Utrecht) as an associate professor of practice in 'Valuable Entrepreneurship in and through the Arts'. There, she conducts research into the social value and impact of the arts, and coordinates the interdisciplinary Minor 'Creative Research for Change'.