Composer and pioneer Pauline Oliveros, founder of the practice of Deep Listening®, describes the practice as “a way of listening in every possible way to everything possible, to hear no matter what you are doing.” There’s more to listening than meets the ear!
Deep Listening, as developed by Oliveros, explores the difference between the involuntary nature of hearing and the voluntary, selective nature of listening. The practice includes bodywork, sonic meditations, and interactive performance, as well as listening to the sounds of daily life, nature, one’s own thoughts, imagination, and dreams. It cultivates a heightened awareness of the sonic environment, both external and internal, and promotes experimentation, improvisation, collaboration, playfulness, and other creative skills vital to personal and community growth.