Reflecting on One Year of Deep Listening
Well friends, it has been exactly one year since we started our weekday Deep Listening livestream on Facebook Live. What began as a way to continue reaching audiences during quarantine has become a wonderful practice shared between our ensemble members and anyone interested in participating. Our community has grown significantly, and we are extremely grateful for this new mode of connection and collaboration.
ABOUT DEEP LISTENING:
First pioneered by composer Pauline Oliveros after an inspiring trip to a cistern with a 40-second reverb near Seattle, Deep Listening is a practice with a number of community and education intersections motivated by the idea that making and experiencing music is everyone’s birthright. Through an array of activities including active listening walks, rhythmic machines, improvised text scores, and movement exercises, Deep Listening provides an astonishing array of tools for communal music-making. Strategies for guiding improvised compositions as well as designing musical experiences for participants of all backgrounds will be explored, as we experience how Deep Listening’s emphasis on mindfulness and play can transform people’s sense of agency and bring about new ways of relating to one’s environment.
REFLECTIONS FROM OUR MEMBERS:
Building community and making new friends all over the world through DL has been such a source of joy for us. I’ll never forget the wonderful class Sharon Stewart taught during our livestream - all the way in Anheim, The Netherlands - fairly early during the pandemic. Her ability to impart such wisdom of body awareness and listening were truly inspiring.
Herine
I can't believe it’s already been a year of our Deep Listening livestream! When we first started in 2020, no one knew or even imagined that we’d be doing this for a whole year or longer. During this unprecedented time, it has allowed Fifth House Ensemble to be together - to share and create art even though we’ve not seen each other in-person since March 2020. Through this livestream, we’ve met new families we’d never have met before. Having our Deep Listening practice as a part of our daily life has helped us through these hard times. I am very grateful for all the emotions and creativity we’ve shared, and for a deeper connection and understanding within Fifth House and our community.
Grace
We've always joked that being members of a chamber ensemble like Fifth House is akin to being in an arranged marriage. We all see a lot of each other and share each others' struggles and triumphs. Working with Deep Listening over the past year has brought us even closer together and changed the way we create art together. While the pandemic unfortunately tore at the seams of other artistic organizations, working with Deep Listening allowed for Fifth House not only to continue our artistic and educational programs, but made the quality of our listening and collaborative work that much stronger. Daily Deep Listening sessions started as a way to continue offering work to the public but have metamorphosed into daily professional development for myself and my colleagues. There is a lot to be thankful for in the transitions made during the pandemic, but Deep Listening has proved to top the list for me.
Parker
To a musician, learning to listen seems absolutely vital. We do learn to listen to the form of a piece, the style of someone's playing, or the instrumentation in a band or record. So Deep Listening came to me in a form of "something I had to do" as a member of the ensemble. I did purposefully try to keep away questions like: what are the applications of this? Is it useful for my practicing? Why are we doing this? I tried to keep an open mind, but had those reactionary feelings at first.
As I kept practicing and allowing myself to think about sound in a different and new way, new meanings defining sound came forward: what sound is, how it effects us, and how our brain processes it. What I love about Deep Listening is how creativity is embedded in the practice. It can be explained scientifically, psychologically and even anthropologically, but it seems that its best vessels are creativity and artistry. Because of its inclusive nature, DL has been the most valuable tool we've used to allow every single person to experience the creative process of transforming sounds, thoughts, and personal experiences into art.
Sixto
It has been fascinating to see the powerful experiences that have developed through one year of our Deep Listening livestream practice. The evolution of our relationship with sound, space and body have been transformational for me personally, and for the development of our chamber ensemble. We have met new friends and colleagues who are excited to create sound together and to explore our emotions and creativity. We dream up the idea that comes forth, giving birth to a world linked to our common values and beliefs.
A special thanks to everybody who makes the DL Livestreams possible. This medium provides a safe environment for creativity and community. We are deeply thankful for that opportunity.
And, we are always welcoming new members to join our Deep Listening Collective!
Elizandro
Having a daily space to share with other Deep Listeners has truly saved me during the pandemic. None of us could have imagined what this time would mean to us, how it would transform us, and how it would create new family members through this shared experience. I couldn't be more grateful for the community we've built!
