Royal Albert Hall appoints Prof Daisy Fancourt as first Associate Scientist
Professor Fancourt will advise the Hall’s Creative Wellbeing programme and lead new public events linking arts, science and health. The appointment marks a new step in the London venue’s work at the intersection of the arts, science and wellbeing.
Prof Fancourt, whose research explores the impact of music and the arts on health, will lead a programme of events connecting arts and science. She will also act as senior scientific advisor to the Hall’s Creative Wellbeing programme, which relaunches in September. During her three-year tenure, Prof Fancourt will help shape evidence-based community engagement work at the Hall, including initiatives available through the NHS under social prescription. The appointment reflects the Royal Albert Hall’s founding mission to promote both the arts and sciences. Across its 155-year history, the Hall has hosted scientific events including one of the world’s first exhibitions of electric light, appearances by figures including Albert Einstein and Prof Stephen Hawking, and the 2014 symposium Imagining the Future of Medicine.
Prof Fancourt said, ‘It is an honour to be the inaugural Associate Scientist for the Royal Albert Hall, a venue I have visited numerous times and had the pleasure of performing on the stage of.
‘At UCL, I have the privilege of directing the World Health Organisation’s Collaborating Centre of Arts and Health and the UNESCO Chair in Arts & Global Health. Our research is demonstrating the tangible, meaningful impact that the arts have on mental and physical health at an individual level and on societal health and wellbeing more broadly.
‘This research is providing even more reasons why everyone should have the opportunity to engage with the arts. By providing not only world-class artistic events but an incredibly inclusive approach to engaging audiences, the Royal Albert Hall is an inspiring organisation. I hope to use the position of Associate Scientist to raise public awareness about the fascinating science of the arts.’
Matt Todd, Director of Programming at the Royal Albert Hall, said the appointment represented ‘a major advancement’ for the venue.
He added, ‘Over the past few years, we have recognised a shared mission to improve lives through music, and the formalisation of this relationship represents a major milestone in this ongoing work.
‘Throughout her career, including in the recent book, Art Cure, Daisy has shared the science that demonstrates the power of the arts to positively impact health. Her appointment will bring arts and science together at the Hall, while her data-driven approach will help us to identify and meet the need for Creative Wellbeing in our community.’
Daisy Fancourt is Director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Arts and Health and UNESCO Chair in Arts & Global Health at UCL. She has received fellowships from Wellcome and the British Academy, and has won two dozen national and international awards.
She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health and the Royal Society of Arts, a BBC New Generation Thinker and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. She also holds a First Class degree in Music from the University of Oxford.
Her book, Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health, is a Sunday Times bestseller, has been translated into a dozen languages and is currently shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.