HOUSTON – (April 4, 2017) – Rice University students will offer a free concert series called the “Listening Project,” which invites audience members to experience new perspectives on aural perception, April 9, 13 and 19 on the Rice campus.

The students were brought together through an inaugural course at Rice’s Moody Center for the Arts. The course, Leadership Through the Arts (MUSI 536), is funded by a Leader Development Innovation Award from Rice’s Doerr Institute for New Leaders.

During an initial concert at the Rice Coffeehouse, the “Listening Project” collected anonymous responses from audience members about what listening is, how people listen and why people listen. This information helped them develop the following three experimental events to engage audiences in a unique auditory experience:

“An Evening of Music and Mindfulness With Micki Fine, M.Ed., L.P.C.,” a reflective concert blending performance and meditation and a conversation with Micki Fine, a mindfulness teacher in Houston. The performance will be held in Rice Memorial Chapel at 7 p.m. April 9.

“A Conversation With Sol: An Immersive Multimedia Experience With the Transitory Sound and Movement Collective,” featuring a convergence of visual art, music and dance. The event will be in the Sol LeWitt exhibit at the Rice Gallery at 8 p.m. April 13.

“Reflection Loop: An Improvised Musical Exhibition,” a partnership with composer Emma Wine to create an improvisatory collaboration between the performers and audience. This final installment of the “Listening Project” will take place in the Main Gallery of the Moody Center at 8 p.m. April 19.

A public reception will follow each performance to give audience members an opportunity to talk with the performers.