WQXR Presents: Beginner's Ear

Unplug and recharge your batteries during a 60-minute deep dive into the art of listening with guided meditation and live music.

Beginner’s Ear brings you closer to the music by opening the mind to both silence and sound.  Through guided meditation, participants reach a deep state of attentive calm, out of which a live performance unfolds with visceral beauty.

Beginner’s Ear was created by New York Times contributing critic Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim as a way to dissolve the mental static that so often gets in the way of a clear connection to a musical performance. Each 60-minute session begins with a mindfulness teacher leading participants in a 15-minute guided meditation. Out of the resulting deep stillness, a 30-minute musical performance emerges, unfolds in the space, and recedes back into the rich calm. The event wraps up with a short conversation, moderated by Corinna, about aspects of mindful listening.