What is synaesthesia? Can you hear colour?

From Stories in Colour by The National Gallery

May 19, 2026 · 53 min · Season 2 · Episode 1

About this episode

The episode explores the concept of synaesthesia with insights from experts and musical interpretations.

Welcome back to a new series of 'Stories in Colour'. To kick off, we’re tackling one of the topics we received the most questions about − synaesthesia. Join Beks and this week’s guests, composer Dr Deborah Pritchard and leading expert on synaesthesia Professor Jamie Ward, as they set out to answer questions such as: What is synaesthesia and what might yellow sound like? We are also joined in the studio by violinist Greta Mutlu and cellist Richard Harwood. They help bring Deborah’s own personal experience of synaesthesia to life through music. ------- Jamie is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Sussex. He is one of the world's leading experts on synaesthesia and is the author of several books, including ‘The Frog Who Croaked Blue: Synesthesia and the Mixing of the Senses’. Deborah is an award-winning British composer known for her work relating to synaesthesia. She has been performed worldwide by the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and more. She is Associate of The Faculty of Music, Oxford and the Royal Academy of Music and was Visiting Fellow at Keble College, Oxford from 2022-2023. ------- Watch the full episode on YouTube…

People in this episode

Host: Beks

Guests: Dr Deborah Pritchard, Professor Jamie Ward

Topics covered

synaesthesia
music
cognitive neuroscience
art
perception

Keywords

synaesthesia
music
cognitive neuroscience
Dr Deborah Pritchard
Professor Jamie Ward

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Sussex, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, The Faculty of Music, Oxford, Royal Academy of Music, Keble College, Oxford

Books & works: The Virgin in Prayer