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The approach of this chapter is polemical in nature, reflecting the very fluid situation that lies ahead for orchestras post COVID-19. The chapter has three main academic research objectives. First, to put the current debate in context, it looks at the key challenges that orchestras have faced since the turn of the last century and in what way COVID-19 posed new problems that impacted orchestral music. The second objective is to outline some special short-term measures introduced to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, namely: (i) the income-support measures needed to sustain orchestras; and (ii) the extent to which orchestras could come together and practice, and in fact perform, even if only in front of no or very limited live audiences. The third objective is to discuss what possibly lies ahead for live orchestral music, post-COVID-19, and in a rapidly changing world regarding technological advances in the production and consumption of orchestral music. To inform this discussion, some broad trends in the ‘consumption’ of orchestral music over time, particularly in terms of numbers attending live concerts and revenues from streamed concerts, are examined.

Dr James Rogers explains how we can draw parallels between the current COVID-19 pandemic and the Second World War, particularly in how humans have responded to an extraordinary challenge.

In the past few months more than a billion people have faced restrictions unlike any seen before. Shops are closed; the death toll is rising; people across the globe have been forced to rise to an extraordinary challenge. But it is important to remember that humans have experienced pandemics before. In this documentary Dan Snow explores some of these previous pandemics and what they can teach us about Covid-19. He talks to Dr James Rogers about what lessons we can learn from WW2.

Forskning i, hvordan stressfaktorer i forbindelse med udfordringer og hindringer påvirker performance, er vokset stærkt frem i litteraturen om organisatorisk stress. Vores forståelse af de mekanismer, som kan forklare disse effekter, er dog stadig begrænset. Denne artikelbaserede afhandling, som tager afsæt i udfordrings-/hindrings stressmodellen og transaktionsteori omkring stress, behandler i tre forskningsartikler spørgsmålet om, hvordan stressfaktorer påvirker performance ved at undersøge underliggende kognitive mekanismer og faktorer, som er relateret til disse effekter. Den første artikel har fokus på, hvordan udfordrings- og hindringsvurdering bidrager til vores forståelse af sammenhængen mellem stressfaktorer og performance. Artiklen præsenterer en oversigt over empiriske resultater, og stiller de studier, som måler vurderinger og de studier, der ikke tager vurderinger med i betragtning op overfor hinanden. Den konkluderer, at måling af vurderinger giver et mere detaljeret billede af sammenhængene mellem stressfaktorer og performancerelaterede resultater. Den anden artikel beskriver et præregistreret eksperimentelt studie, som har undersøgt virkningen af stressfaktorens styrke (opgavesværhedsgrad) på udfordrings-/hindringsvurderinger og performance af en krævende kognitiv opgave. Studiet fandt en ikke-lineære effekt af opgavesværhedsgrad på udfordringsvurderinger, mens effekten på hindringsvurderinger var lineær. Samtidig bekræfter det hindringsvurderingens medierende rolle i sammenhængen mellem opgavesværhedsgrad og performance. Den tredje artikel beskriver to studier. Studie 1 er et præregistreret eksperiment, som udforsker, hvilken rolle tidligere erfaringer og feedback spiller i det dynamiske stressforløb. Artiklen fokuserer især på, hvordan opgaveperformance, vist som en sideløbende performance feedback (dvs. simultan præsentation af opadgående social sammenligning og objektiv feedback) medierer ændringer i udfordrings- og hindringsvurderinger. Studie 1 underbygger delvist dets hypoteser om indirekte effekter. Studie 2 bygger på Studie 1 og anvender derudover eye-tracking til at undersøge sammenhængene mellem udfordrings-/hindringsvurderinger og opmærksomhed på de to nævnte aspekter af sideløbende feedback for at kaste lys på hvilke opmærksomhedsprocesser, der ligger bag de effekter, der blev fundet i Studie 1. Studie 2 er i øjeblikket i gang med dataindsamling og er ikke afsluttet på grund af COVID-19-inducerede restriktioner på laboratoriet. Denne afhandlings overordnede resultater anbefaler en gentænkning af den nuværende forståelsesramme for udfordrings-/hindrings stressmodellen ved at åbne for en mere kompleks konceptualisering af sammenhængen mellem stressfaktorer og performance i organisationer. Research on the effects of challenge and hindrance stressors on performance is burgeoning in organizational stress literature. Nevertheless, our understanding of the mechanisms explaining these effects is still limited. Grounded in the challenge-hindrance stressor framework and the transactional theory of stress, this article-based dissertation addresses the question of how stressors produce their effects on performance by investigating the underlying cognitive mechanisms and factors associated with these effects in three research papers. Specifically, to understand how challenge and hindrance appraisals contribute to our understanding of the stressor-performance link, the first paper presents a review of the empirical findings that contrasts the studies that measure appraisals with those that do not consider appraisals. It finds that measurement of appraisals offers more refined picture of the relationships between the stressors and performance-related outcomes. The second paper conducts a pre-registered experimental study to investigate the effects of the magnitude of a stressor (task difficulty) on challenge and hindrance appraisals and performance in a demanding cognitive task. It finds the non-linear effects of task difficulty on challenge appraisals, while the effects on hindrance appraisals were linear. In addition, it provides support for the mediating role of the hindrance appraisals in the task difficulty-performance relationships. The third paper consists of two studies. Study 1 carries out a pre-registered experiment to explore the role of prior experience and feedback in the dynamic stress process. Specifically, it examines how task performance, provided as in-task concurrent feedback, i.e., simultaneous presentation of upward social comparison and objective feedback, mediates change in challenge and hindrance appraisals. Study 1 finds partial support for the hypothesized effects. Study 2 examines the underlying effects found in Study 1 and employs eye-tracking to explore the associations between challenge and hindrance appraisals and attentional focus on the two elements of the in-task concurrent feedback to shed light on attentional processes. Study 2 is currently in the process of data collection and is not completed due to COVID-19 induced restrictions on the laboratory. The overall results of this dissertation encourage rethinking the existing state of the challenge-hindrance stressor framework by inviting a more complex conceptualization of the stressor-performance association in organizations.