Tuomas Eerola: “Computational Recognition of Emotions in Music: A Meta-Analysis and Critical Review”

Prof. Tuomas Eerola, Durham University:

“Computational Recognition of Emotions in Music: A Meta-Analysis and Critical Review”

Tuomas Eerola is Professor of Music Cognition at Durham University (UK). He obtained his MA degree in Musicology at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) in 1997. In 2003, he finished his PhD at the same university, and between 2007 and 2013, he held a professorship, first associated with the Music, Mind & Technology MA program, and later as a Chair of Musicology. Eerola was also affiliated with the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research. At the Music Department at Durham University, Eerola has served as Director of Research (2013-2015, 2021-) and Head of Department (2018-2020). He has also been President of the Finnish Musicological Society. Eerola is interested in musical emotions, and how we perceive music, in particular central elements such as melody, timbre, rhythm, meter and dissonance. He often uses computational models to articulate theories. In 2024, he published the book Music and Science: A Guide to Empirical Music Research. During this talk, Eerola will present recent findings from a meta-analysis of computational studies of emotion recognition in music.