#wld2017

World Listening Day is an annual global event held on July 18.

The 2017 theme is “Listening to the Ground”

“Sometimes we walk on the ground, sometimes on sidewalks or asphalt, or other surfaces. Can we find ground to walk on and can we listen for the sound or sounds of ground? Are we losing ground? Can we find new ground by listening for it?”—Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016)

In addition to this year’s theme, WLD 2017 reflects and honors the life and legacy of Pauline Oliveros, who died at age 84 on 26 November 2016.

Dozens of organizations and thousands of people from six continents have participated in World Listening Day since its inception in 2010. Help share and grow participation in this annual event by adding your information to our online form: https://goo.gl/forms/Zwsiu5GU7Dz7DfNV2

Use hashtag #WLD2017 to connect our global community across social media.

Pauline Oliveros was a force of nature, a composer guided by her interest in harnessing cutting-edge technologies and her lifelong practice in deep listening.

In the early 1960’s, Pauline Oliveros composed with magnetic tape and prototype synthesizers at the San Francisco Tape Music Center. She was also an accomplished accordion player. A vocal self-advocate for her pioneering work, which remained consistently relevant throughout her lifetime, Oliveros held her ground as other talented female pioneers of electronic music went disregarded in the male-dominated field.

Her collaborations and improvisations were witness to her willingness to listen to others and to weave together a unique tapestry of talented musicians in marvelous acoustic spaces. And who is a musician? Anyone according to Oliveros. She wanted music to be free from specialists, and instead open to everyone regardless of status, experience, or ability.

In 1971, following a period of introspection triggered by John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the Vietnam War protests, Oliveros published her Sonic Meditations, a set of 25 text-based instructions meant to provoke thoughtful, creative responses for anyone to carry out to expand consciousness and healing. “Native,” the most commonly cited sonic meditation resonates well with Pauline’s suggested theme for World Listening Day 2017, Listening to the Ground. Pauline defined deep listening as, “listening in every possible way to every thing possible to hear no matter what you are doing. Such intense listening includes the sounds of daily life, of nature, of one’s own thoughts as well as musical sounds.” She urged us to, “Take a walk at night, and walk so silently that the bottoms of your feet become ears.”

Let us all slow down enough to let our feet become our ears. Let us listen to the ground on 18 July, World Listening Day 2017, in honor of composer and deep listener, Pauline Oliveros.

~Andrea Williams, New York teaching artist