What is ‘The Listening Symposium’?

If you have spoken to me recently, you have very likely heard of my new project, The Listening Symposium. The idea of a listening party has always intrigued me. It was first presented to me at sixteen: to gather friends and listen to good music. At the time, we didn’t have the community, knowledge, space, or resources to make a real listening party happen. Still, I always liked the idea very much, and as I said, it stuck with me. There is something ritual about both gathering and musical sound.

Through my academic research in Archaeology, I have had the opportunity to be exposed to various ethnocultural practices, which highlight both the artistic continuities between cultures and the differences unique to each one. Intangible heritage refers to heritage we cannot see, heritage that is not physical— like music and dance..

The aim of the Listening Symposium is to foster a community interested in music. This is a deliberately vague statement. Our community cultivates spaces (academic symposiums, parties, free community events, cultural gatherings) aimed at objectively appreciating the intangible heritage that is musical expression. We promote rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic application, as well as the study of ethnocultural differences within the broad framework of what we call “music.”

I leave you with this question: What is music?