Hear Below 2023 — Mallory Yanhan Qiu

HEAR BELOW: LISTENING TO CHICAGO UNDERGROUND

NON:op Open Opera Works and Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology partner for the fifth consecutive year to offer “Hear Below,” a soundwalk through Chicago’s Pedway system. Guided soundwalks are be available from late April to early May and are be led by the Hear Below 2023 teaching artists cohort, Mallory Yanhan Qiu, Jeanette Dominguez, Eric Leonardson, and Christophe Preissing.

This year’s self-guided edition, “My Pedway Soundwalk,” invites participants to rediscover the art of listening and share their experiences through audio, video, images, and text, which can be added to the Hear Below Community Archive.

Click HERE for 2023 Hear Below soundwalk route and sonic points of interest curated by Mallory Yanhan Qiu

Pedway Route Overview

1 mile round trip, about 35-40 min

Image: Map of the Chicago Pedway System
Image Credit: City of Chicago

Image: Guided Soundwalks Schedule
Image Credit: Jeanette Dominguez

"Welcome to our soundwalk through the Chicago Pedway system!

Today, we will be exploring the sounds of this bustling city and taking some time to practice deep listening.

To start, I invite you to take a deep breath in and out, allowing yourself to be present in this moment. As we walk together, I encourage you to tune in to the sounds around you - the hum of the escalators, the chatter of passersby, the clack of heels on the pavement. Allow yourself to be fully immersed in the soundscape of the city.

As we continue our walk, I'll be posing some questions for you to consider. What do these sounds make you think of? How do they make you feel? What do they tell you about the city and its people?

So let's begin our soundwalk, taking the time to breathe deeply and truly listen to the sounds of the Chicago underground world.”