15. October 2026

About the Feeling—Where Research Meets Live Music

Poster for “About the Feeling 26” (ATF26). The headline reads: “About the Feeling 26 – Conference during the day · Live performances in the evening.” The ATF26 logo appears on the left. Additional text reads: “Conference – Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics” and “Festival – Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm.” The design uses a bold grid layout with abstract wireframe-like graphics on a bright yellow-green background and dark blue typography.

Science on stage: “About the Feeling“ brings together scientists, artists and music industry professionals. The event is divided into two parts: During the day, there will be a conference featuring lectures, panels and a poster session at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics. In the evening, there will be a festival with live performances and DJ sets at the Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm.

The conference program brings together academic insights and the realities of the stage and features international speakers from the both worlds. David Diallo (University of Bordeaux) will discuss collective participation and audience engagement in rap. Dennis de Klein (TWOFIFTYK, the Netherlands) will share his expertise on staging large-scale shows in “The Art of Show Production.“ Luke Cooper (Clair Global, USA) will demonstrate how live music is growing along with the artists, from clubs to stadiums. In addition, DJ Kasir will moderate a panel discussion with Vertigo, Ale Rossi, and Sndyvibes on the topic “How Do Independent DJs Build an International Touring Career.”

The evening continues with an international festival line-up at the Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm, Waldschmidtstraße 4, Frankfurt am Main. Please, visit the  event website for more information.

The conference will be held in English. Since the number of participants is limited, please register here.

Registration

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