Ōtō̂n Symposia is a fortnightly listening group built around the proposition that musical engagement is a practice — one that can be cultivated, deepened, and made philosophically rigorous without requiring formal training. The name invokes the Greek root for ear and hearing (ōton), and gestures toward the Socratic symposion: a gathering organized not around performance but around sustained, collective attention.
The group meets via Zoom to work through a shared listening list of five musical works. Participants prepare individual Stadia entries before each session — field notes that map each piece across five dimensions: its specific musical techniques (τ), its affective character (ε), its subject matter and symbolic reference (T), its social and institutional context (κ), and its relationship to the broader arc of musical history (Ⱶ). The session then moves through a structured 90-minute convergence, beginning with each participant's exegesis and building toward open interpretive discussion, the identification of operative tendencies across the repertoire, and the collective planning of what to hear next.
The Symposia is designed for musicians, professionals from adjacent fields, and committed non-specialist listeners alike. What it asks of participants is not expertise but attention: the willingness to slow down, to hold judgment in suspension, and to let the music be strange again.
To participate, or to learn more email me at douglasboyce @ gmail . com
