“The more I listen the more I learn to listen. Deep Listening explores the relationships among any and all sounds whether natural or technological, intended or unintended, real, remembered or imaginary. Thought is also included. Deep Listening practice consists of listening, sounding, and movement pieces…the results of which are then processed by group discussion, personal reflections, or both. Deep Listening is for musicians as well as participants from other disciplines and interests. Previous musical training is not required.” – Pauline Oliveros

Introductory / Light Workshop One - 12:00-13:00

Introductory / Light Workshop Two - 13:30-14:30

Deep-Dive Workshop - 16:00-18:00

The Deep Listening practice we will be exploring was developed by Pauline Oliveros, IONE and Heloise Gold, beginning in the 1960s and continually evolving to this day. A response to Pauline Oliveros' experiences of discrimination in the Western-music academy of the 1950s and her work with the '♀ Ensemble', Deep Listening offers an antidote to injustice and aims to foster peace and connection between self, others and our environments.

Dan Johnson has been a certified Deep Listening Facilitator with the Centre for Deep Listening at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York since 2022. His work was recently featured in the 2025 book, ‘A Year of Deep Listening’, and is an active Deep Listening facilitator across the UK.

A former artist in residence at Arnolfini, Dan also holds a Post-Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning from the University of Sussex, and has been involved with research & development programmes at Stanford University and the Marina Abramovic Institute.

As a musician, Dan leads the inclusive percussion/performance art project, ‘Ecstatic Drum Beats’, and as well as being an active solo performer and drum teacher. His past & present collaborators include: Maggie Nicols, Moor Mother, EP/64, Valentina Magaletti, Ximena Alarcón, Kit Wilmans Fegradoe, Zoh Amba, Pat Thomas and Annie Gardiner.

For this event, Dan will share two introductory workshops followed by a two-hour ‘deep-dive’ session.

Experienced Deep Listeners and newcomers alike are welcome to attend any of the sessions and no prior experience is necessary.


“Deep Listening was known to some participants in the workshop and completely new to others. Dan began the workshop by explaining very clearly the concepts underpinning the exercises, and continued leading the session with easy-to-follow instructions for exercises. No-one felt left behind or under-stimulated. The workshop was varied and suitable for all levels of experience, while instructions were open to personal interpretation – no mean feat. Using movement, dreams, and the workshop space, participants were guided in an exploration of the connectivity of sounds and situations. For me, the time spent actively listening to a cavernous space, finding the beauty in distant traffic sounds, as well as the continual hums, clicks and creaks of my own body in a group listening experience will be a memory to be treasured.” (workshop participant feedback, Cardiff, 2022).

Entry requirements: no age restrictions — Read more — Read less