Acousmatic Crossings Live Event—Diffusion and Discussion

Composer François Bayle. Photo by Laszlo Ruszka

On June 4th, 2025 at 2 pm (CDT) (convert to your time zone), Acousmatic Crossings will bridge the auditory and the imaginal with our first live listening session via Zoom.  This event will feature works by artists previously published in the series—brought into shared space for both diffusion and discussion.  For this event, composers Paul Dolden and Leonie Roessler will be our guests as we feature their work.

This is your invitation to join a gathering of fellow Acousmo-nauts and the composers themselves for a sonic expedition into the architectures of the inaudible, where sounds are stripped of their sensorial signatures and become archetypes.  Together, we’ll delve beyond the veil of these pieces, not only to heighten our collective enjoyment, but to glimpse the arcane motives and delicate craft behind each sonic entanglement.

While diffusion is often a solitary and phenomenological affair—one body, one chair, one private theater of sound, this communal experience offers the possibility of an imaginal convergence.  Opening oneself to Pierre Schaeffer’s notion of reduced listening, a mode of attention where one sets aside questions of origin or meaning to focus solely on the sound’s texture, shape, and movement-reveals byways to the imaginal realm where those very sounds become something other. 

Through this strategy, we’ll coax the sounds to reveal themselves in their purest state, textures unmoored from their sources, morphing and mingling in the psyche’s deep pool.  From there, what appears is wholly personal, yet in the company of others, the shared resonance may illuminate something greater than any individual encounter.

What, after all, might a group hearing reveal that solo listening cannot?  This is not just about sound, but about presence—about creating a space where music can be spoken of not merely in technical terms, but as a carrier of vision, spirit, and transformation. We welcome open conversation, optional of course, about the psychoacoustic terrains you may traverse during the event.

We hope you’ll be able to join us for this inaugural diffusion. It will be open to everyone and will only take an email address to register.  Keep an eye out for the details coming soon in a weekly newsletter.

Acousmatic Crossings is just beginning, and we have a constellation of forthcoming works to share, each with the potential to lead listeners on a deeply personal sojourn. These live events aim to raise awareness, deepen appreciation, and open new portals to listening as an act of imaginative awakening.

See you in the sonic aether.

Michael Eisenberg

(P.S. For the most immersive experience, we highly recommend using headphones or earbuds for this event.  The subtle spatial movements and sonic textures are best appreciated in close quarters, where the inner ear becomes the concert hall.)

Registration

This is a free preview event open to all. (Future events will be limited to Metapsychosis Patrons and Cosmos Co-op members). Enjoy!