HEAR BELOW: Listening to Chicago Underground

Self-Guided and Guided Soundwalks in Chicago’s Pedway System

For the fifth consecutive year, we are excited to partner with NON:op Open Opera Works to present “Hear Below”, a soundwalk through Chicago’s Pedway system. Guided soundwalks will be available from late April to early May and will be led by the Hear Below 2023 teaching artists cohort, including MSAE President Eric Leonardson. 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.

The My Pedway Soundwalk webpage offers simple tools, such as the Pedway map, routes, and points of sonic interest, to help you create your own soundwalk. You can also record your personal experience using audio, video, images, and text and share it with non@nonopera.org to contribute to the developing archive, or post on social media using the hash tag #hearbelow.

On Saturday, April 22 1:00 PM meet Eric Leonardson at the CTA Lake Street Red Line Station, in the subway, on the east side toward the direction of Macy’s. Find the full schedule of guided soundwalks below. You can sign up by clicking here.

HEAR BELOW: My Pedway Soundwalk is co-produced by NON:op Open Opera Works and the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology with support from Chicago Architecture Center.