Ear to the Earth: A Festival of Music, Sound and Ecology

Leonardo co-presents EAR TO THE EARTH: A Festival of Music, Sound and Ecology

October 6-14, 2006

New York, NY

Featuring sound work by Alvin Curran, Steven Feld, Luc Ferrari, Joan La Barbara, Annea Lockwood, Laurie Spiegel, Morton Subotnick, Hildegard Westerkamp, Iannis Xenakis, and many others.

How can sound help us better understand our environment and engage in today's critical ecological issues? From October 6-14, 2006, Ear to the Earth - a festival conceived and organized by Electronic Music Foundation - will kick up the volume of the earth's sonic life with concerts, installations, public art, and panel discussions that explore our interaction with natural and man-made worlds through sound. For a week, an international team of sound artists, environmentalists, scientists and educators will convene in downtown venues including the World Financial Center, Judson Church and 3-Legged Dog Arts & Technology Center (3LD), to present and discuss a wide and compelling body of works based on the sounds and images of the environment, encouraging people to "listen to our world."

The festival highlight is Suspended Sounds, an immersive, 3D sound environment giving voice to a multitude of endangered - or already extinct - birds, and orchestrated by composers Alvin Curran, Joan La Barbara, David Monacchi, and Morton Subotnick, among others. Designed by Alban Bassuet from Arup Acoustics, a global leader in architectural acoustics, Suspended Sounds will be staged at 3LD on Friday, October 13 (7, 8, 9 and 10pm) and Saturday, October 14 (7, 8, 9 and 10pm).

Also bringing awareness to the declining population of the earth's vast array of species is Calls of the Wild, a sound installation to take place in the Winter Garden of the World Financial Center and running October 9-13, 11am-3pm.

Other festival highlights include a series of daily concerts, each focusing on a different, creative approach to the sounds of our environment. Concerts are scheduled at 3LD (October 7, 8, 12, 13) and Judson Church (October 9, 10, 11); show time is 8pm; admission fee or suggested donation is $10.

Water and Ice, scheduled at 3LD (October 7-14), presents five sound and visual installations dealing with various ecological and social issues around these vital elements.

Another festival group show, also scheduled at 3LD (October 7-14), is The State of the City, presenting three different mappings of New York City in sound. In conjunction with this exhibition, the panel discussion, Sound Art and Preservation (Saturday, October 14, 3-5pm) will bring together artists and scientists to focus on how sound art can help in preservation efforts.

The festival will launch with an opening reception at 3LD (October 6, 7-10pm).

Programmed by a team of curators from the arts, science and academia, Ear to the Earth is organized by Electronic Music Foundation, in partnership with the UNESCO DigiArts Portal, New York City Audubon, New York University's Music Technology Program, Arctic Soundscapes Project, New York Society for Acoustic Ecology, The Acoustic Ecology Institute, World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, and Leonardo/ISAST.

For more information on the festival, visit: www.eartotheearth.org