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New Publication - "Space to Listen - Listening to Space" in SPECTRES V - DIFFUSION
"Space to Listen - Listening to Space" appears in English and French in the publication SPECTRES V - DIFFUSION available online now here.
Navel-gazer blog extensive interview with photos
I recently did an in-depth interview with Andrew on his blog Navel-gazer which has been published today. There are lots of lovely photos.
Hildegard Westerkamp receives Honorary Doctorate degree from Simon Fraser University
Hildegard Westerkamp received the Honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, at the SFU convocation on June 14, 2024. Watch here. Below, see the text of the Honorary Degree Citation by Dr. Milena Droumeva. To read Hildegard Westerkamp's Convocation speech, click here.
HONORARY DEGREE CITATION
by Dr. Milena Droumeva
Friday June 14, 2024
Madam Chancellor, it is my incredible privilege to be
able to introduce honorary degree recipient, Hildegard Westerkamp. A prolific composer, acoustic ecologist and public intellectual for more than five decades, she has truly shaped the fields of soundscape activism and soundscape composition. Despite her humility, she is the embodiment of the values of SFU.
Hildegard came to Vancouver from Germany in 1968, and in 1973 was the first woman to join Simon Fraser University’s World Soundscape Project under R. Murray Schafer. In 1974, her article “Soundwalking” captured global aTention and is still cited today. Soundwalking, that is, to listen intentionally and without judgeme
nt has been the cornerstone of Hildegard’s philosophy. In the 1970s she was one of the first acoustic ecologists to call for sound artists to engage with critical issues that affect society, issues such as the climate crisis, issues such as global justice and to listen to the unspoken and the unheard.
She is widely known for her pioneering soundscape compositions, which have been performed internationally, featured in films, and used in teaching and research around the world. She was a founding member of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology and chief editor of its journal, Soundscape, for more than a decade. A commiTed mentor, she has inspired generations of sound artists, environmentalists, academics and composers, including myself.
In the words of her nominators: “Hildegard [Westerkamp] asks listeners to hear the fundamental richness that is available in each moment, acknowledging things as they are.” Above all, she says, listening is disruptive: It forces us to be present, to earwitness, and to make space for different voices and different perspectives. For her leadership and outstanding contributions as a sound activist, I ask that you now confer upon Hildegard Westerkamp a Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa.
News Archive
Paris, March 5, 2016: Multi-channel presentation of Into the Labyrinth and Talking Rain during the annual festival PRESENCES électronique
Université Paris 8, March 22, 2016: Multi-channel presentation of Für Dich - For You at Séminaire International Espace-son
Hildegard Westerkamp: A Pioneer in Sound Art and Perceptual Appreciation by Sophie Arkette
Cricket Voice and Whisper Study played at the Helicotrema Festival in Rome, Italy, April 18 - 21, 2013.
Playing with the Voice and Blurring Boundaries in Hildegard Westerkamp’s “MotherVoiceTalk” by Alexa Woloshyn
In MotherVoiceTalk (2008), Hildegard Westerkamp uses archival and field recordings of conversations, reflections and nature. The work negotiates boundaries that are often blurred in the electroacoustic medium: public and private, self and other, time and space. For details, go here:
Concert, Portland Oregon, March 26, 2012. Details here
Harbour Symphony at ohrenhoch at the Noise Shop, in Berlin, Sunday, 9 and 16 October 2011, 2pm - 9pm. For details, go here
Shattering the Silence 2011
Breaking the Sound Barrier: Electroacoustic Focus Jan 19-23 2011 Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia
Für Dich - For You (2005)
has now been published along with compositions by Nicolas Bernier * Darren Copeland * Francis Dhomont * Louis Dufort * Gilles Gobeil * Robert Normandeau * Barry Truax on trans_canada, a DVD by empreintesDIGITALes. More imformation
An interview with Hildegard in a new book by Paul Steenhuisen
Sonic Mosaics - conversations with composers
In Sonic Mosaics - conversations with composers author Paul Steenhuisen offers readers insight into the creative process and suggests ways of listening to and interpreting new music. Steenhuisen talks one-to-one with thirty-two of his contemporaries with a colleague's candor, sympathy and expertise.
The University of Alberta Press, January 2009 For more details and to order: The University of Alberta Press
Hildegard Westerkamp presenting at:
The 8th SCHOOL OF SOUND International Symposium
15 - 18 April 2009
Purcell Room - Queen Elizabeth Hall
Southbank Centre, London SE1
and at Goldsmiths, University of London:
20 April 2009, 14:00 - 17:00
Art and Soundscapes
Composer and acoustic ecologist Hildegard Westerkamp will present and discuss her compositional work.
For more details see the calendar: http://www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id=2751
World Premiere of New Compositions:
Seascapes
By Hildegard Westerkamp
a newly created sound environment for Audrey Capel Doray's Electronic Seascape (mixed media sculpture)
Shown as part of Idyll: Three Exhibitions
16 May - 10 August, 2008
Opening reception Saturday 31 May, 1 to 3 pm
The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery
The University of British Columbia
MotherVoiceTalk
By Hildegard Westerkamp
performed in the context of Vancouver New Music's Marginalia, re-visioning Roy Kiyooka
20 - 23 February 2008 | 8pm
Vancouver East Cultural Centre, 1895 Venables Street
Winner of the 2008 Alcan Performing Arts Award, Marginalia wishes to create an opportunity for the public to consider aspects and values of art making, Kiyooka's multiple practice and the inspiration stemming from its richness and diversity. The idea of referring to different works by Kiyooka, consists then of composing a form in which these layered differences can become a practical piece. Simultaneity, polycentricity and overlapping points of view will be the characteristic elements of Marginalia. BC composers Jocelyn Morlock, Stefan Smulovitz, Stefan Udell and Hildegard Westerkamp will be the commissioned artists who will be writing the four new works within a strong relationship to Kiyooka's works. The new compositions will take cues and motivations from specific characters, ideas and passages in Kiyooka's works and will become an organic stimulus for an inner dialogue between Kiyooka, his displayed works, the composers, the performing musicians and the audience. Like a musical palimpsest the dialogue among the various components of Marginalia will not be just an echo of Kiyooka's work, not simply a response; it will have a life of its own in the interactive relation between the composers and Kiyooka, his cross-cultural and polymorphic artistic approach and his inner dialogue and research.
News from the Film World
Excerpts of Hildegard Westerkamp's compositions have been included in the soundtrack of Elephant and Last Days, two recent films by Gus van Sant.
CDs of both soundtracks have been released in France by mk2 music.