Sunday 12 February 2023, 2pm
What if listening begins with the whole body?
What if tuning means to feel a common bond with others and the surroundings?
What if scores trigger auditory fantasies?
What if sounds expand awareness?
What if music is a group of people finding the current of a river?
The Sonic Meditations created by Pauline Oliveros are 25 ‘recipes’ for tuning listening awareness and for making sonic experiences that are accessible to people from all ages, with and without musical training.
Following the workshop, a Q&A with IONE, Paul Stapleton and Sara Ramshaw will consider the impact of the Sonic Meditations both on musicians and artists, as well as on processes of healing and the role of listening as an improvisatory practice within the justice system.
Artur Vidal is a London based and Spanish-born saxophone player who grew up in Paris where he studied music, philosophy and history of art. His work involves field recordings, sound walks, dance and improvisation. He has been doing academic research on improvised music and environmental sounds and has become a certified teacher of Pauline Oliveros’s Deep Listening practice. He has published two collections of text scores: The Hum in the Valley (2021) and Friendly Algorithms (2018).
IONE is a noted author, playwright/director and poet whose works include the critically acclaimed memoir, Pride of Family Four Generations of American Women of Color, Listening in Dreams and This is a Dream! She is the playwright and director of four stageworks developed with her spouse, Pauline Oliveros, including their final collaborative work, The Nubian Word for Flowers. Ione is the Founding Director of the Ministry of Maåt, Inc ( MoM, Inc) and Former Artistic Director of Deep Listening Institute, Ltd. Her most recent opera, TOUCH, with composer Karen Power, premiered at Irish National Opera in 2021.
http://www.ionedreams.us
Paul Stapleton is an improviser and sound artist originally from Southern California. He designs and performs with a variety of modular metallic sound sculptures, custom made electronics and found objects. Paul is currently Professor of Music at SARC in Belfast and director of Sonorities Festival. He has received critical acclaim for several artistic projects, including his album FAUNA with saxophonist Simon Rose, and for his sound design and composition for the immersive audio theatre piece Reassembled, Slightly Askew.
http://www.paulstapleton.net
Sara Ramshaw is Professor of Law and Director of Cultural, Social and Political Thought (CSPT) at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. Her research interests fall broadly in the area of arts-based approaches to law, with a specific focus on the improvisatory arts, especially music, dance and theatre. She has published widely in numerous international journals and given invited talks throughout the Commonwealth and beyond. Sara has also been a Visiting Fellow at the Westminster Law and Theory Lab (London, England), the International Institute of Critical Studies in Improvisation (Guelph, Canada), the Sonic Arts Research Centre (Belfast, NI), the Institute for International Law and the Humanities (Melbourne, Australia) and the Center for Globalization and Cultural Studies (Manitoba, Canada).
