Summer of Listening

Happy summer everyone. Thanks for opening this email and at least skimming the first line šŸ˜‰

I had an amazing time in Europe these past two months. I did a 3-week tour with William ā€œBilwaā€ Costa which took our Un/Natural Fields project to Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Austria and Poland with support from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. After that, I did another set of shows with singer Katrine Faber in Germany and Denmark. Iā€™m still waiting on some documentation to be posted, but I will share some live recordings and videos soon. I have plans to collaborate on more projects with both artists in 2019.

Faber McDermott performing at Spektrum in Berlin. Photo by Carl KrĆ¼ger

Iā€™ll be back in Berlin for a three-month residency at GlogauAIR working on and (finally) presenting a version ofĀ Echozoo this fall. Until then Iā€™ll be in Philadelphia and Iā€™m doing a series of workshops and concerts in the coming weeks centered around mindfulness and listening.
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COURTS

Photo by Shawn Theodore, a fellow Artist in Residence

Before I get into the workshops, if you’re in Philadelphia this week, please check out the closing party for an amazing photo and sound installation I was honored to be a part of. I was an artist in residence at the Village of Arts and Humanities SPACES program. As part of that residency, I created music and sound design (along with the band Ill Doots) using people’s voices and basketball court field recordings from the Hartranft neighborhood in North Philadelphia exploring the culture of the past, present, and future of the courts for the show, Home Court: The Hartranft Basketball Court Revival. Check out the SPACES website for more info. The closing party is Wednesday, July 18, 6-8pm at The Village of Arts and Humanities gallery space.
 


Art of Listening Class

The Art of Listening
Springboard Studio
530 Carpenter Ln, Philadelphia, PA 19119
Sunday, July 22, 11 am – 4 pm
Suggested Donation/Danā $20
Event Info

A day-long class exploring meditative states of listening consciousness led by composer and dharma teacher Michael Reiley McDermott. Through listening, we can develop an intimate connection to our environment, each other and ourselves. In this day-long retreat, Michael will take us through listening exercises, periods of silent meditation, Dharma talks, performance scores of singing and sounding and a sound walk. The practices of Listening Consciousness are rooted in Theravada and Zen Buddhism, vipassana meditation, the Deep Listening techniques of Pauline Oliveros, Thich Nhat Hahn and the music and philosophy of John Cage.

No meditation or musical experience necessary. Beginners are welcome.


Healing Frequencies


Healing Frequencies
with Maraliz Campos and Michael Reiley McDermott
Magick City
37 Box St. Brooklyn, NY
August 4, 9pm-11:30
$15 / pre-show // $10 / door
Facebook Event | Tickets

A night of healing frequencies and intentional dialog about listening, time and consciousness. Maraliz Campos and Michael Reiley McDermott, sound practitioners/musicians, present a discussion and concert and sound journey across aural landscapes with filtered and reimagined field recordings from Michaelā€™s recent travels and artist residencies in Thailand, Myanmar, India, Germany, Latvia, Iceland, United States and Brazil.

Part two is a meditative ambient journey from Paraguayan-American artist Maraliz with crystal/Himalayan bowls, rattles, original samples, synth, vocals, tuning forks, etc.


Listening Bodies


Listening Bodies
with Monica Gentile (Lake Studios Berlin) and Michael Reiley McDermott
Mascher Space Cooperative
155 Cecil B. Moore Ave. Philadelphia
August 11th, 11am – 3pm
$10 / Before August 1 // $15-20 / After August 1
Tickets | Facebook Event A workshop exploring states of consciousness and embodiment. Open to dancers, musicians, artists, yogis, and meditators.

Dhamma of John Cage

Happy New Year everyone! 2016 was such a wonderful year for me with so many projects. I’m very grateful to all of you who supported me whether by helping to fund my Hatchfund for EchoZoo and my residency at Ayatana and my field recording trips to the Pacific Northwest, coming to my sleep concerts during my artist residency at <fidget> or with Temple Universities BEEP, coming to see my collaboration with Nora Gibson Contemporary Ballet in Ephemeral, my Fringe Fest collaboration with Fran Markey or maybe enjoying my little musical part of Klip Collective’s Nightscape at Longwood Gardens this fall or perhaps support during my Deep Listening certification studying with the late Pauline Oliveros.

I’ve got some exciting projects this year including several sleep music concerts and recordings, an Echozoo research residency in Brazil, a new ballet with NGCB, new albums coming out on Buddy System and NOREMIXES, and a new education initiate teaching Field Recording and Deep Listening with Dutch artist Sharon Stewart with a pilot program funded by American Composers Forum at Village of the Arts and Humanities this March.

Now on to this month’s projects… First I’m teaching a three part series on John Cage and Buddhism…

The Dhamma of John Cage

A three part series exploring the connection between John Cage and Buddhism with periods of meditation, listening and discussion.
Sunday January 8, 15 and 22, 2017
7:30-9pm

Springboard Sangha
530 Carpenter Lane, West Mt. Airy
Free and Open to the Public

Consciousness Hacking Oneironautics Workshop Lucid Sleep Concert

Lucid Dreaming workshop with overnight concert
Saturday February 4, 2017 7pm – Sunday February 5, 2017 ~9am
Sera Phi
715 S. 50th St, Philadelphia, PA 19143
Lecture on Lucid Dreaming by Thomas Peisel, co-author of A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming: Mastering the Art of Oneironautics.
Overnight Lucid Dreaming concert by Michael Reiley McDermott using Sera Phi’s surround and in-floor sound system.
+dream zone plant magic by milksunn(((o)))
Facebook Invite
Eventbrite
Sliding scale / pay-what-you-want tickets, but reserve your spot because space is limited!