Hidden in Plain Sight

Elisa Lemma

Collective practice • Collective learning • Listening practice • Music • Classical Music • Open conversation • Commons

What do we hear when we listen to classical music? Coloured chords? Giant drops and secret doors? Rolling cats and frantic moths?

Hidden in plain sight. Sonata for many voices is the ongoing research attempt towards a commons-based and inclusive attention practice for classical music listening. Listeners with all kinds of backgrounds and musical experience (including none) met over the course of eight months to shape a collective practice where music perception was shared and interpreted with the same, undivided attention that it takes to learn a new language.

This publication invites its readers to engage in the conversations and findings of the participants who took part in this research project, as well as giving space to contribute to a growing collection of perceptions, ideas and sensitivities.