When music meets data at JADS
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At JADS, data science connects directly with society. Sometimes that means teaming up with business, other times with culture. During A Singer’s Jukebox at JADS in ’s-Hertogenbosch, soprano Lenneke Ruiten and pianist Thom Janssen shared the stage with an unusual partner: data. The concert doubled as a live experiment in group recommendations, led by bachelor student Noa Verrijt and her supervisor, associate professor Martijn Willemsen.
Culture meets algorithms
The idea was simple to explain, but hard to solve: how do you recommend music to a group instead of a single person? Martijn: “Most recommendation systems, such as Spotify or Netflix, are designed for one person. But what if you’re curating for a whole group with diverse tastes? That’s a different challenge. With this concert, we tested different strategies: finding the common denominator, or ensuring every individual gets something they like.”
Before the event, visitors filled out a survey with Spotify clips, rating pieces and sharing their listening habits. During the concert, five different sets of three pieces were performed, each built on a different recommendation strategy. Audience members gave feedback live through an app, and some results were shown on screen.
The concert was organized by the International Vocal Competition (IVC), as part of their Song in City cycle in which they bring vocal music to unique places in Den Bosch, such as the JADS chapel. They welcomed the idea of combining a classical recital with a live data experiment. Their openness created the space to test these new methods in front of a real audience.
A bachelor project on stage
For Noa, this was her bachelor’s end project. Two weeks before the concert she was still finalizing the research design. “It was hectic at first, but once the hall filled up it really came together. I had never listened to some of those classical works from start to finish, so hearing them in that context was special. And then knowing the program partly followed from my project made it even better.”
Noa appreciated how open the professional musicians were to last-minute changes driven by the data experiment: It felt a bit strange at first. I didn’t want to take the spotlight from them. But it was great to see how flexible they were, and how my project could really interact with their performance.”
Research in the city
The concert shows what makes JADS unique: research tested in practice, linked with the city of ’s-Hertogenbosch. The collaboration with professional musicians gave the scientific experiment a visible stage.Martijn: “Group recommendation is still largely unexplored territory. Events like this let us test theories in practice, with real audiences—not just simulations.”
Next steps
Noa is now finishing her bachelor and plans to continue in the Joint Master in Data Science in Business and Entrepreneurship at JADS: “I really enjoyed bringing together the data side and the human side. That’s something I’d like to continue.”
The project perfectly reflects what JADS aims to offer: a place where students learn to apply data science in real-world settings: in business, society, or even a concert hall!
