Overview
Wednesdays, October 7- November 18,
6:30-8pm ET
(No class October 14)
All Angels` Church Sanctuary
251 West 80th Street New York, NY
COURSE DESCRIPTION
What if you could describe ineffable experiences with others, connect with the intentions of the composer, and create personal meaning?
Join Steinway Artist and Yale alumna Hsing-ay Hsu "Sing-I Shoo", creator of the Conscious ListeningTM approach, for an interactive seminar designed for classical music concert-goers of every level. From the piano, Hsing-ay will guide your listening of chamber music recording comparisons, as well as perform solo excerpts with the intimacy of live acoustic sound.
Conscious ListeningTM is a listening skillset with a structured 4-step method, not a memorize-the-facts music appreciation class. Using mindfulness, breathwork, multidimensional activities, and creative associations, Hsing-ay layers in musical elements in real-time to help you build a genuinely personal relationship with the music.
Through this practice, you will:
Connect music to language — learning to ask better questions, listen more deeply, and engage more fully
Focus on one musical element at a time, giving it your full attention
Use imagination to link sound with memory and emotion
Breathe with harmonic tension and release, resonance and silence
Listen collectively alongside curious minds — lifelong learners, music teachers, and adult musicians — to build real social connection through shared listening
Hsu’s Conscious Listening TM programs and residencies have been featured by a variety of organizations including the Aspen Music Festival, Kaufman Music Center NYC, Klavierhaus NYC, Yale-China Institute, Yale School of Music, TEDx Yale, and Rocky Ridge Music Center.
REPERTOIRE LIST
Randall Thompson — Alleluia for chorus
Frédéric Chopin — Nocturne Op. 15, No. 2 in F♯ Major, Paired with a sonnet by Petrarch
Claude Debussy — Sonata for Violin and Piano, Mvmt 1
Alexander Scriabin — Poème in F♯, Op. 32, No. 1
Jean-Philippe Rameau — Overture from Pygmalion, RCT 52
Domenico Scarlatti — Sonata in F#, K.319 / L.35
Franz Schubert — Rondo for Violin and Piano op.70 in B minor
Ludwig van Beethoven — Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 78 "À Thérèse", Mvmt 1
Maurice Ravel — Piano Trio in A Minor, Mvmt 1
Franz Liszt — Les jeux d`eaux à la Villa d`Este
António Carlos Jobim — The Girl from Ipanema
Béla Bartók — String Quartet No. 3, Sz. 85
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Violin Sonata in E Minor, K. 304
COURSE FORMAT
This course is an interactive in-person seminar course in New York City. This course will meet once a week for 6 classes and will be held in-person at the following location: All Angels` Church Sanctuary 251 West 80th Street New York, NY 10024 (stairs to 2nd floor- no elevator).
Weekly reading or other forms of materials may be assigned. There are no papers or grades. This course does not offer any credits or certificates. This course is intended for learning for the love of learning.
COURSE MATERIALS
This course will have all reading materials supplied by the instructor. Additional materials will be provided through weblinks.
Registrants will receive access to the course page about two weeks before the course starts.
COURSE CANCELLATION POLICY
Registrants can cancel and receive a full refund up to September 21. After September 21, there will be no refunds issued.
Yale Alumni College courses are subject to schedule changes as well as cancellations. If Yale Alumni College must cancel any course prior to its start due to low enrollment, you will be notified of this by the cancellation date. Upon cancellation of a course, registrants may transfer their registration to another available course or have the registration fee fully refunded.
In the event of a disruption to the original course schedule, including but not limited to; Professor absence, hazardous weather conditions, or local travel restrictions, Yale Alumni College will do its best to reschedule the missed class for the week immediately following the original end date at the same course time and day.