Source: Press Release: ROCO Explores Neuroscience in Season Finale “Sense of Mind”, May 2nd & 5th
HOUSTON, TX – ROCO concludes its 21st season with ROCO Connections: SENSE OF MIND – a groundbreaking collaboration with Music-in-Medicine at UT MD Anderson exploring how the brain processes an immersive performance in real time, visualized through live brain-computer interface (BCI) mapping conducted by Dr. Mei Rui, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of Music-in-Medicine. This season finale takes place on Saturday, May 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. at ARTECHOUSE Houston, and Tuesday, May 5, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. at Mays Clinic at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
This innovative concert-experiment features real-time EEG data measuring the neural activity from two audience members using state-of-the-art neurotechnology provided by Dr. Rui’s research lab. Audience members will be treated to enveloping, data-informed visuals designed by multimedia artist Badie Khaleghian. These visuals will be projected throughout the space, highlighting the powerful impact of an immersive performance in a multisensory environment.
ARTECHOUSE—Houston’s state-of-the-art immersive environment, designed for experiential, technology-driven storytelling—provides a uniquely fitting setting for this concert-experiment, amplifying the intersection of neuroscience, music, and visual art at the heart of the project.
The lineup of ROCO musicians featured includes Pianist and Principal Investigator Dr. Mei Rui, Principal Oboe and Artistic Director Alecia Lawyer, Principal Clarinet Nathan Williams, bassoonist Amanda Swain, and Principal Horn Bernhard Scully.
The concert features a newly commissioned work by Dr. Anthony Brandt, titled Coloring Outside the Lines, funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. Performed alongside Ludwig van Beethoven’s Quintet in E-flat for Piano and Winds, Op. 16. Anthony Brandt’s new work is inspired by Badie Khaleghian’s visuals, counterpointing musical lines against the visual lines of his designs.
Juxtaposing new and classic works, the program explores how novelty and familiarity might impact the brain during a live performance, sparked by neuropsychologist Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg’s theory that brains are inherently wired to distinguish between the familiar and the unexpected in differing ways.
Pay What You Wish tickets for the concert are available now on the ROCO official event page, with a free livestream at roco.org/live, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and on the ROCO mobile app.
As part of the Music-in-Medicine Concert Series, MD Anderson Cancer Center will host a repeat performance of the concert on Tuesday, May 5, at 12:00 p.m.
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