soundwalks 2022-23

A season of walking & listening through outdoor public spaces in calgary

third sunday of the month, november through April

always free

Register for Soundwalk #4 February 19th 2023

What is a soundwalk?

... any excursion whose main purpose is listening to the environment. It is exposing our ears to every sound around us no matter where we are. (Hildegard Westerkamp, World Forum of Acoustic Ecology)

‘ A soundwalk is a form of active participation in the soundscape. Though the variations are many, the essential purpose of a soundwalk is to encourage the participant to listen discriminately and moreover, to make a critical judgement about the sounds heard and their contribution to the balance or imbalance of the sonic environment.

In order to expand the listening experience, sound-making may also become an important part of a soundwalk. Its purpose is to explore sounds that are related to the environment and, on the other hand, to become aware of one's own sounds (voice, footsteps, etc.) in the environmental context. A soundwalk may be recorded in the form of a map, which the participant uses both to guide the route and draw attention to features of acoustic interest’ (handbook of acoustic ecology, ed. Barry Truax).

The term was first used by members of the World Soundscape Project, under the leadership of R. Murray Shafer, in the 1970s. At New Works Calgary we take an interdisciplinary approach to soundwalking, inviting not only musicians but artists from all disciplines to lead our walks. We encourage activation of sonic awareness from many different points through the body and mind; we are excited to explore as many different creative paths to listening as there are creative souls in the cosmos.

soundwalking guides

Sunday, November 20th @ 2PM - Jiajia Li

Sunday, December 18th@ 2PM - Jairus Sharif

Sunday, January 15 @ 2PM- Claudia Weis

Sunday, February 19th @ 2PM - Andrés Porras Verwaayen

Sunday, March 19th @ 2PM - AJ Kluck

Soundwalk #4

The Sounds Of Wellness

with
Andrés Porras Verwaayen

Sunday, February 19th 3-4:30pm

This walk is about examining the sounds that we hear, and consider the different ways that it affects our mental health. We'll explore questions like "How does the sound of passing cars make us feel?" and "How does the sound of nature make us feel?"

By exploring a built environment that prefers cars, we can examine our experiences next to a busy freeway as a pedestrian and compare it to our experience in a vehicle. Come along for a calm and (hopefully) enjoyable journey of sound!

We will start our journey in the Northland Best Buy Parking lot, make our way to Dalhousie station, and return via Vienna road to our starting location.

Andrés Porras Verwaayen

Andrés Porras Verwaayen is a multimedia artist who also works as a teacher. In both careers, issues around mental health are always top of mind for him. He creates art that centers around resiliency and overcoming adversity.

Register

Accessibility

The proposed route will begin in the Northland Best Buy Parking lot, will continue over the pedestrian overpass, through Dalton Park’s Bike Path, towards Dalhousie Station, into Varsity Ravine Park, then returning back to the Northland Best Buy Parking lot via Vienna Drive, and across the Crowchild Trail/ Shaganappi Overpass.

The entire walk is wheelchair/cane friendly, and the artist is open to adjusting the walk on the day-of to accommodate the pacing of our unique group of participants.

health and safety

The walk will happen snow or sunshine, so please wear weather-appropriate clothing and perhaps bring a warm drink of your choice in a thermos.

Masks are not required; we welcome you whether you choose to wear a mask or not.

Soundwalk #3

The Green Lung

with Claudia Weis

Sunday, January 15th 2-3pm

The walk will begin at Crescent Road and 7A street N.W, towards the pathway. We will walk along Mchugh Bluff and down Centre Street bridge to the entry point of China town and then we will turn around and walk back up and end our walk at 1st Street and Crescent Road N.W.

This area perfectly fits in with the definition of The Green Lung- an area of natural parkland within an urban region that is supposed to replenish the air with oxygen.

We will begin a brief introduction on the history of the bluff and then continue to open and close our ears for comparison. We will focus on walking meditation and remain with our bodies not in the future, not in the past but in the present. While we practice our walking meditation, are you still listening? Does inward focus remove outward attention? What about removing all outward sounds or listening and walking with half our aural facility? How does walking feel then?

This walk will be moderately paced with brief directions given throughout the walk. We will stop frequently to breathe and pause.

Claudia Weis

Claudia Weis is an educator with firm roots in art. She used to fill her bag with a CD player and about 10 CDs and walk for hours across the city. For her, walking has been a practice to reopen up the channels of creativity and a way to reconnect with the outer and inner world. Calgary has become a busy city and the auditory possibilities are endless. Now, it is more difficult to connect as the world of technology not only gratifies it also increases detachment. Calgary has grown so much since the days of CD players. It is still a place where one can easily walk and enjoy the city and its inhabitants, human or otherwise. Claudia’s love of people and nature easily converge on the thousands of walks she has taken in this city. Claudia has a strong interest in the act of moving meditation and on reminding herself to gaze and listen beyond the horizon, and also within.

Register

Accessibility

This will be a moderately paced 1 hour walk. There are two pathways, one paved and one gravel. Due to the nature of when this walk occurs, wheelchair accessibility may be difficult due to snow and/or ice. Good winter boots and proper gear for warmth and comfort will make this walk much more pleasing.

health and safety

The walk will happen snow or sunshine, so please wear weather-appropriate clothing and perhaps bring a warm drink of your choice in a thermos.

Masks are not required; we welcome you whether you choose to wear a mask or not.

Soundwalk #2

Fire, Stone, Tower

with jairus sharif

Sunday, december 18th 2-3pm

On this soundwalk, participants will contemplate the sonic past, present and future of a rapidly changing, but often forgotten urban landscape. We will listen to the to ambience of each segment of the walk, thinking about which sounds dominate and demand attention and what sounds become muffled or inaudible. What sounds were in competition for attention before this place was dominated by these structures? What sounds will resonate here, in the near and distant future? Participants will be asked to improvise a word at each transition point of the walk, but it is not mandatory.

We will meet at the Barlow/Max Bell LRT Sation Parking Lot, and head through the sation toward the LRT Platform, then out towards Max Bell Arena, walking through the community Albert Park and arriving at APRH Community Garden.

jairus sharif

Jairus Sharif is a Mohkinstsis/Calgary-based multi-instrumentalist, improviser and sound artist. His work involves using sound collage, improvisation, and layering of diverse sound sources to create jazz and hip-hop influenced soundscapes dealing with self-understanding, the intersection of race, class, history, and technology, and how these forces shape everyday life.

Register

Accessibility

The walk will be on gentle, paved pathways and sidewalks and is fully wheelchair friendly. There will be options to depart from the pathway should you desire.

health and safety

The walk will happen snow or sunshine, so please wear weather-appropriate clothing and perhaps bring a warm drink of your choice in a thermos.

Masks are not required; we welcome you whether you choose to wear a mask or not.

Soundwalk #1

jiajia li

culture through ears

Sunday, November 20th @ 2pm

Re-scheduled from Winter 2022

Classically-trained flutist Jiajia Li is being praised as "one of the city's finest and most adventurous flautists”. She was the 2019 recipient of the Stingray Classical Artist in Residency at the National Music Centre, and 2016 recipient of Canada’s Juno music awards Micro-Grant initiative. Since finishing school in Germany and moving to Calgary in 2014, Jiajia has forged her identity through music and performance, cutting across a wide range of modern musical experimentations and traditions. Her wide interests in music have taken her on a journey from concert hall appearances with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra to improvised shows with the Bug Incision experimental concert series, to directing a traditional Chinese ensemble and forming her latest pop band, “Ginger Beef”.

A keen and passionate collaborator, Jiajia has been involved in various projects in music, dance and arts communities. Her most recent pandemic duo project “Who Cares?”, with violinist Laura Reid, fostered connections with the local arts community by creating DIY music videos and live chats. As an immigrant in the arts, Jiajia tries to bridge the gaps between communities by initiating projects and creating conversations. Past work includes producing the short film “Off To The Races”, co-producing “Chinese New Year Concert”, and founding the Youth Ensemble under the Calgary Chinese Orchestra in 2018.

The walk

On this walk, participants will practice mindful listening to the sonic environment. Could you hear things that were always there but you never paid attention to? Are there entirely new “foreign sounds” that you’ve never heard before? Do you feel your body reacting to certain sounds? I hope that by practicing mindful listening, you’ll notice and enjoy this beautiful ongoing musical composition we are living in, and try to find the connection between it and our own bodies.

We will meet at the west entrance of the Dragon City Mall (on Centre Street), walking through Chinatown towards the river, then passing through Sien Lok Park to end at the Chinese Cultural Centre.

Accessibility

The walk will be on gentle, paved pathways and sidewalks and is fully wheelchair friendly. There will be options to depart from the pathway should you desire.