Deep Listening
Pauline Oliveros always tried to listen to all things, at all times, in every way possible. As a musician and a composer, she wanted to deepen her abilities as a listener by paying close attention to all the sounds the world and the imagination had to offer. This fascination also extended to movement and embodied practice. The three modalities of Deep Listening Practice are Listening, Moving, and Dreaming (or listening to imagined sound). Although Deep Listening can be done alone, it is often a communal practice.
Pauline was an iconoclast. While the world of Western European classical music composition was intentionally being written only for well-versed, elite music audiences, Pauline wanted to include everyone, and I mean everyone. She shunned musical notation in favor of written instructions, or text scores, which removed the barrier of formal music training to participation. Puline envisioned a world where there was no audience and performer, because they all would be performing together. She believed that creativity was every person’s birthright, and she wanted to create spaces that invited everyone to create together. Her text scores guide communal improvisations that vary each time they are performed.
I was introduced to Deep Listening practice by trombonist, composer, and improviser, Stuart Dempster in 1990. Stuart became a life-changing mentor, collaborator, and friend. He introduced my wife, Leila, and me to Pauline and we had the opportunity to work with, study with, and perform with her before she transitioned in 2016.
The longer I was involved with Deep Listening, the more I realized that the transformational power of this practice extended far beyond listening, moving, and music making.
Deep Listening is a radically inclusive pedagogy. It invites everyone into a supportive space or collaborative creativity.
Deep Listening builds a trusting, welcoming community more quickly than any other approach I have experienced. Deep Listening builds communities of belonging.
Deep Listening affirms each participant’s creative birthright. Participating in a Deep Listening piece sends a clear message: you are seen, you are heard, you matter.
Deep Listening builds high-level skills in collaboration and subtle listening–critical skills in every discipline from music and art to business and leadership.
Deep Listening practice expands one’s comfort zone and nurtures an ability to fearlessly jump into unfamiliar opportunities.
Deep Listening allows each participant to listen and participate with curiosity and wonder, two high-level skills that are critical for entrepreneurial thinking.
Deep Listening promotes mindfulness and promotes both mental and physical wellbeing.
For all of these reasons, Deep Listening practice is an important part of my leadership philosophy and practice.