Contact: Eric Leonardson, Founder Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology Telephone: 773-722-0346 Mobile: 773-218-5796 E-mail: info@mwsae.org

The American Society for Acoustic Ecology announces:

"Listening for the Future" symposium

Event Highlights, Media Coverage, and Concert Programs

July 9th, 10th & 11th, 2010

Chicago, Illinois July 8, 2010 -Listening for the Future will take place from July 9-11, 2010 to actively engage with the most neglected aspect of our environment: the soundscape. Hosted by the newly-founded Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology and World Listening Project, this will be the first conference held by the American Society for Acoustic Ecology in Chicago. An inspiring three days of discussion, workshops, concerts, and soundwalks are planned in an emerging field of study and activism that unites a broad range of social, scientific, and artistic concerns.

Event Highlights

Friday, July 9

Citizen Sound symposium, 5:00-7:00 PM opens with a wine and cheese reception, introductions to each of the ASAE chapters, and presentations by leaders in Chicago's cultural and advocacy scene at Columbia College, 33 E. Congress Parkway, basement lobby and room # LL11. A media Lounge will be open all evening where guests can sample CDs and peruse publications by participants, performers and ASAE members. Attendees will learn how to participate in the first World Listening Day (July 18, 2010).

Citizen Sound Keynotes

Lou Mallozzi, Executive Director of Experimental Sound Studio, Eschewing Intelligence? Why "Ecology" Makes Me Nervous.

Graham Balkany, Architect and founder of the Gropius in Chicago Coalition, Destructive Interference: An Attempt to Save the Total Environment of Walter Gropius.

Group dinner with ASAE members (7-8:30 pay-your-own) at a local eatery.

Concert 8:30-10:30PM - $10) will feature:

Edmund Mooney (New York, NY) presents The City, The Brain and Ecstasy, a two-channel soundscape collage with live foley (a.k.a. sound-effects). 20 minutes.

Viv Corringham (UK and Minnesota) will present Singing in Place, a cycle of songs based on walks she has taken alone or with others in different neighborhoods throughout North America and Europe. Featuring environmental sounds and snippets of conversation recorded in each location, and combined with her electronically treated vocalizations, the songs represent the spirit of each walk. 20 minutes.

Andrea Polli (New Mexico) will present audio excerpts from Sonic Antarctica - a project that features recordings of the Antarctic soundscape made during her seven-week National Science Foundation residency in Antarctica during the 2007/2008 season. Sonic Antarctica features natural and industrial field recordings, sonifications and audifications of science data and interviews with weather and climate scientists. 20 minutes.

Eric Leonardson (Chicago, IL) and Michelle Nagai (Princeton, NJ) present a duo of live improvised music played on self-built electronic instruments. Leonardson's "Springboard" is made from inexpensive and readily available materials, producing a miraculous world of sound. Recently, the Springboard was written about in Leonardo Music Journal and Nicolas Collins' book, Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking (MIT Press). Michelle Nagai performs on the miniMARtLET, a scaled-down version of her light-sensing, neural network driven tree bark interface. 20 minutes.

Saturday, July 10

Afternoon soundwalk (2-4PM) in Miller Woods, free and open to the public starting at the Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. This event is sponsored by Vocalo.org (89.5 FM) and the National Park Service. Chicago attendees will gather at Millennium Station to ride the South Shore Line to Indiana and back.

Group dinner (6:30-8:15, pay-your-own) in Chicago.

Chicago nightlife soundwalk (8:30-10PM) starts near the fountain in Wicker Park, at Damen Avenue, Wicker Park Drive, and Schiller Street.

Sunday, July 11

ASAE members lead a workshop for children and families, 2:00-3:00 PM near Gallery 400. Location TBA.

Afternoon Surround Sound Concert and Closing Reception 3:30-5:30 PM at Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, Art and Design Hall, 400 S. Peoria Street, Chicago IL 60607. This event will also be streamed live. Performances by:

Andrea Williams (Bay Area) will present a live electro-acoustic soundscape performance using small instruments and field recordings of the San Francisco Bay Area made between 2006 and 2010. 15 minutes.

Chicago Phonography (Chicago, IL) - Formed in 2008, Chicago Phonography is a loose collective of artists interested in promoting new activities in listening by broadcasting raw, unprocessed field recordings as an ensemble in a context of live improvisation. 30 minutes

Andrea Callard (New York) will present Breathing with Five Trains in Muncie, a two-channel work composed from field recordings. Callard evokes the experience of life in Muncie, Indiana when the city was busy with industrial commerce. We hear the sounds of freight trains with a musicality all their own, mixed with Canadian Geese flying overhead, and the intimate breathe sounds of a sleeping person. 7 minutes.

Jamie Davis (New York and UK) will present Something The City Said, an experimental sound work that is meant to express the musicality of an urban soundscape. Davis, accompanied by several other singers and members of the audience, will conduct the performers as they interact with a sound recording that features urban field recordings and the voice of a single violin. 20 minutes.

"Something Else" radio broadcast performance10:00 PM-2:00 AM on on WLUW 88.7FM and live Internet stream., hosted by Philip von Zweck, Performers include: Eric Leonardson, Michelle Nagai, Andrea Polli, Andrea Williams, Edmund Mooney, Viv Corringham, Jamie Davis, Chicago Phonography, and Andrea Callard.

The ASAE - Listening for the Future Media Coverage

Vocalo.org & Chicago Teachable Moments

Listening for the Future guests and organizers where recently featured in interviews on a special online section of The Examiner called Chicago Teachable Moments. Visit www.examiner.com to learn about how these creative artists and cultural advocates discover a wealth of ideas and inspire through their work as educators in electronic media, sound, and the environment. Among thosee interviewed: Eric Leonardson, Lou Mallozzi, Michelle Nagai, and Andrea Polli.

Vocalo.org (89.5FM, Porter, IN) ispleased to support the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology as a media sponsor for the Indiana Dunes Sound Walk.

Listening for the Future Registration

Registration for the symposium guarantees a reservation for group dinners and seats for the concerts. Requested donation of $50 ($35 for students and artists) includes membership in the ASAE. All events, including both concerts, the 'Citizen Sound' symposium, the soundwalks and the workshop are free for ASAE members. Benefits of ASAE membership are explained on the ASAE website: www.acousticecology.org/asae/

Registration and additional information is listed on the MSAE's Listening for the Future website: http://mwsae.org.

History

The Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology (MSAE), founded in 2009, is a chapter of the American Society for Acoustic Ecology (ASAE), the U.S. affiliate of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE), an international association of affiliated organizations and individuals, who share a common concern with the state of the world's soundscapes. Our members represent a multi-disciplinary spectrum of individuals engaged in the study of the social, cultural and ecological aspects of the sonic environment. Learn more about the WFAE on its website: http://wfae.net

Listening for the Future Organizing Committee:

Eric Leonardson, Chair
Michelle Nagai
Andrea Polli

Assisted by:
Jamie Davis
Jesse Seay

Listening for the Future is organized by the American Society for Acoustic Ecology, and hosted by the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology and the World Listening Project. Sponsors include Vocalo.org (89.5 FM), The National Park Service and Columbia College.