Travel upstate to enjoy an experiential weekend where we'll create an all-out feast for the senses. We're going to get hands-on with music in a way that takes us far out of the academic confines. Join us as we pair up music (SOUND) with the other four senses (SIGHT, TASTE, SMELL, and TOUCH) as we focus on the way we listen, and how we can make it more interactive.

We'll kick off our weekend with an Olio that will give you a template for deeper listening and will help you enjoy the most out of our activities plus give you a framework for more involved listening with the music you enjoy on the regular. In the afternoon we'll break off and explore the area, trying to find noisemakers and pre-record sounds that we'll use for a group-realization of a few fluxus performance scores, and finally, compose a work of our own.

After dinner, we'll enjoy a flight of desserts with a unique twist: music that is meant to be eaten! And we'll end our evening with a deep listening where we enjoy music just for the sake of sound—and discuss different listening environments and impacts. We'll round out the weekend and wake up with a similar, meditative/yoga listening session that explores music and movement together on Sunday morning.

Here's a little further detail about our schedule of events:

Noon Olio - SIGHT & SOUND: The Music Notebook: basics for understanding and deep listening

Bring a notebook and pen! This is a fun Olio crash-course on how to get the most out of what you listen to.

Afternoon - TOUCH & SOUND: Instrument/Sound-making Quest and Collage exploration

In the afternoon we'll break off and explore, trying to find noisemakers and pre-record sounds. We're all going to be artist and musicians for the evening, making use of what we call 'music concrete' (pre-recorded elements) and found-objects (objects of the everyday that we recreate into musical instruments) to realize a score of our own. You'll be given some creative prompts for your scavenger hunt—!

Evening - SIGHT/TOUCH/SOUND: Event-based scores and group performance

We'll talk about unconventional notation, graphic scores, and new things that happen in music (and sound collage) in the 20/21st centuries.

Dinner Break - at the Lantern Inn

Dessert - SMELL/TASTE & SOUND: Synesthesia and Music History

We're going to do a flight of desserts that takes you through five eras of music (Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century) where we pair smells and tastes with particular pieces from each of these eras to evoke a different dimension to listening

Late Night - Deep Listening Session: SOUND & EXPERIENCE:

After all of the talking and experimenting that we've been doing, we're going to take a moment, sit back, and listen—deeply. We'll have a special listening room set up and talk about modes of listening and different sound environments before we all shut our faces and just get DEEP with the sound.

Morning - (Meditation Session): SOUND & MOVEMENT

EARLY MORNING! We'll combine music and movement together and leave off with a meditation/yoga session with some special moves meant for you to let your body do some of the listening for you.