Part of the ORA/EJC Collaborative Educational Series
Acoustic Ecology with Aaron Kahn

This one day sound and music course is designed to familiarize students with the field of acoustic ecology, or the study of both our human and non-human environments. We will trace back the origins of sound to the emergence of water on planet earth and chronicling this millions-of-years-long sonic journey up until present day by looking at material from the book The Soundscape: The Tuning of Our World by R. Murray Schaefer. The course’s main objective is to encourage more educated listening of sounds we may generally take for granted, and focus in more deeply on sounds we may be familiar with but are vastly more complex and beautiful than we may know, like birdsong. Students will come away with more tuned, sophisticated, and “surround-sound” ears and a joy for the diverse landscape of sound in our world.

Ages 18+ $45/Person

Aaron Kahn is an experimental trumpet soloist, creative entrepreneur, marketing writer, community engagement specialist, event producer, educator, and public safety advocate. His artistic mission is to push creative boundaries, expand the imagination, and champion various humanitarian, environmental, political, and forward-moving spiritual causes – all in the name of individual and collective liberation. He studied Music and Cognitive Psychology at McGill University in Montreal, QC, Canada; got his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts; and received his Master’s of Music in Music Performance from the University of Oregon, where he served as the Graduate Teaching Fellow in the trumpet studio under Brian McWhorter. Aaron has worked with some of the most creative and influential musicians and groups in the field, including the Britt Festival; Mason Bates, David Rozenblatt, and Chicago (all Grammy winners); and PNW-based composer and NEA grant awardee Justin Ralls. He has won a number of awards, scholarships, and fellowships, most recently the Arts3C Grant from RACC (Regional Arts and Culture Council). Aaron was also a member of Co/Lab and Rabbi Josh Rose and Shoshana Guggenheim Kedem’s Art/Lab second cohort for contemporary Jewish artists. He has recently undertaken a solo trumpet commission collaboration with internationally-renowned and -performed composer Fredrick Kaufman, a Pulitzer Prize nominee. Aaron is also the founder of Pardes Ventures Incorporated, a brand-new public benefit corporation seeking to create local paradises – microclimates of health, safety, and peace – through arts-focused events that bring together different communities of practice. As an educator, Aaron has taught in a variety of school settings in holistic and integrative topics. Recent engagements include a creative music course he taught at Metro Montessori School, which brought together music appreciation, music production, ethnomusicology, and performance, all grounded in principles of acoustic ecology, or the study and integration into both human and nonhuman sonic landscapes. He is also a substitute teacher in Portland Public Schools, has taught improvisation to arts magnet students in Los Angeles, performed for and coached arts magnet students in Springfield and Eugene, and taught about the confluence of mysticism, anthropology, cognition, and musical practice for a CalArts intersession course. Aaron’s mission in all his endeavors is to establish a more just, virtuous, and peaceful world.