WEDNESDAY 19th February | 7pm | £5 adv tickets

“Listening is a broader capacity to attune and attend that supports processes of reflection and empathy, compassion and care, for oneself and for others, which may assist in contending with the systems around us.” (Brandon LaBelle, 2021: 15)

Sound sparks are ideas or thoughts sparked through listening. Field recording and soundscape compositions tend to be solo explorations - but in what ways can we listen with others to our surrounding environment, and what can we learn together?
Bethan will sonically share her journey in developing participatory listening research, through tracks that have inspired her, her own field recordings, and group compositions.

Participatory listening research is a way of listening with others to the environment whilst embracing different listening experiences, practices, and positionalities. Her explorations include: academic research into the sonic experiences of urban seaside gentrification with residents, community groups, and local policymakers on the Sussex coast; and listening projects with Brighton & Hove Music for Connection with older people and community wellbeing groups across the Downs and urban fringe.
Through sharing these, she hopes to spark some thoughts about the relationship between environmental listening and a politics of listening - how listening together to our changing environment might help us listen better to each other.