About

HEARTSTRINGS:  is a musical experience created together with the audience to experiment with the impact of music and connection, human touch, and the healing impact on hearts.

We invite the audience into an interactive journey where art, science, and technology converge. Audience members form human chains of touch that activate Crdl’s sounds, which Åström weaves into live improvisations, while Omerovic shares scientific insights into the healing power of music for both body and mind.

The performance demonstrates, in real time, how music and human connection can support health and bring people together, effortlessly. 

The performance unites three voices, each with a different language of healing and expression:

Rickard Åström

Musician & Composer

An award-winning pianist and performer, known for Groupa, the Gothenburg Opera, and pioneering research into music and health. A two-time Grammy winner, developer of the MusicForMoods app, engaged in research at the Sahlgrenska Academy, Rickard explores how music can heal — from synchronizing heart rhythms in choirs to supporting patients under anesthesia. Throughout his career, he has witnessed how music can be a profound healing force: helping stroke survivors regain speech, soothing premature babies, and awakening recognition in people with dementia. In this performance, he weaves improvised soundscapes that not only respond to touch and presence but also embody music’s power to heal, comfort, and reconnect. 

More about Rickard

Professor Elmir Omerovic

Cardiologist & Scientist

A key figure in research on Broken Heart Syndrome (Takotsubo cardiomyopathy) and leading researcher at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, exploring the intimate connection between music and the human heart. 

Elmir is also the University Hospital Chief Physician, Professor, and Cardiologist at the Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Gothenburg and Sahlgrenska University Hospital. Omerovic not only shares insights from his medical research but also explains how heart rhythms can sync together between people — revealing the profound physiological impact of connection and music. His own recovery from a brain hemorrhage has made him a passionate advocate for bringing music into clinical care.

More about Elmir

Jack S.C. Chen & Dennis Schuivens, founders of Crdl

Instrument of Connection

In 2015, Jack and Dennis launched the Crdl, a handcrafted wooden instrument and therapeutic device that transforms human touch into music. Developed in the Netherlands, Crdl was born when the founders observed, in elderly care homes, how difficult it was for family members to connect and communicate with their loved ones suffering from dementia. Since then, Crdl has been making a significant impact in care, creating possibilities for a more loving and profound connection between people, regardless of cognitive abilities. 

Crdl has the innovative ability to transform the human body into a musical instrument.

A Crdl moment starts when two users each place a hand on the conductive pads, forming a circuit at the moment they touch each other. Different types of touch will trigger different sounds that enhance the emotional experience, enabling people to connect naturally and spontaneously.

Crdl has gained international recognition, including being named one of TIME Magazine’s 200 Best Inventions of 2023, for helping people connect when words fall short. In this performance, Crdl becomes a catalyst for collective connection through an intuitive dialogue of touch and music. 

More about Crdl