It seems obvious to associate music with listening. However, starting from the second half of the 20^th century, research around sound has been at the centre of the composers’ focus, casting doubt on traditional composition structures and favouring instead a new quality of perception. This experimental behaviour, constantly required by artists and audience, consists in a wider open-mindedness, a larger curiosity, which appears to differ from the perception of contemporary music traditionally composed. The artistic focus on listening has become a source of inspiration beyond music and it has found validation both in post-structuralism philosophy and in art: the limits between different arts have thus disappeared under a new perspective. The lecture will explore reflections on listening in music, philosophy and art, and their relevance during the 21^st century, using concrete examples, from Luigi Nono and Beat Furrer’s musical theatre to the contemporary installations realised by the Austrian performer Elisabeth Harnik - installations which incorporate images, the scenery and language, but also architectural elements that reflects the socio-political needs of contemporary art.

Professor Susanne Kogler studied classical philology and musicology at the Karl Franzens Universität of Graz and musical pedagogy at the Kunstuniversität Graz. She graduated in 1994 and in 2001 she obtained a PhD with a dissertation on the topic “Sprache und Sprachlichkeit im zeitgenössischen Musikschaffen” (her work was published in 2003 by the Universal Edition). From 1996 to 2011, she has been senior scientist for the Musical Aesthetic Institute of the Kunstuniversität Graz, during the academic year 2010-2011 she was deputy manager of the Zentrum für Genderforschung, in 2012 she became executive director of the university archive and starting in 2018 associate professor. She obtained, in 2012, the scientific qualification at the Insitute of Musicology of the Karl Franzens Universität on the topic “Adorno versus Lyotard: modern and post-modern aesthetic” (Freiburg: Alber, 2013). Numerous her publications on musical aesthetic and on the history of music from the 19^th century to the 21^st. She has been a professor for various German and foreign universities (Kunstuniversität and Karl Franzens Universität Graz, New York City Univeristy, Université Paris 8, University of Vienna, University of Klagenfurt, University of Ljubljana). Starting on the 1^st October 2020, she is professor of musicology at the University of Graz.