Shared listening creates a sound haven that awakens compassion for ourselves and others.
As I develop the workshop, and put it into action, I'll have testimonials from participants in this space. For the time being, it must suffice to have a few reflections on the approaches embodied in the workshop that have been a part of my teaching over the years. For now, a statement from a former student:
As a student of John Morrison's, I deeply appreciated his contemplative approach to music. I found it to be a breath of fresh air, and largely missing from academia. I think that musicians can be the worst audience of all for music because they often can't turn off their analysis. They can have the most trouble just experiencing a piece sonically, and seeing how it affects them on a physical level, apart from their knowledge as a musician. I believe that this is the most important way to experience music, and that this is the way in which it can have its most profound effect. I so appreciated John Morrison giving us all a chance, and encouragement, to do just that in an academic setting. After all, that is the setting where many of us most deeply ingrain the habits that will prevent us from ever doing that sort of listening.
Damen Eastling, MM, composition, Longy School of Music