Katie
Down
Sound Stories is a three-part/phase community experience that will take place in Marlboro, NY (population ~3,000) blending original music, oral histories, a sound-walk, and a public performance/workshop. Each phase invites a diverse cross section of Marlborough’s community residents to creatively engage with the town’s past, present, and future through accessible, creative participation.
The project will take place in 3 phases:
Phase One: Oral Histories
With support from Meet Me In Marlborough (a non-profit organization supporting local agriculture, artisans, and businesses), the Marlboro Free Library, and The Falcon (Marlboro’s dynamic performance venue) I will conduct about 80 interviews with community members representing diverse cultures, ages, ethnicities, and gender identities. Interviews will be audio-recorded with a past–present–future through-line and integrated into a sound collage and musical composition. Interviewees will be asked a series of 20 questions, including their name and age if they wish to share, along with questions about what is important to them, their relationship to the town, family history, dreams of the future, identity around community, etc.
Phase Two: Soundwalks in town
Sound-walking is a practice of Walking Arts and an aspect of both Acoustic Ecology and Psychogeography respectively. Acoustic Ecology is the study of the perception and relationship to the sonic environment. Psychogeography is the study of emotion and embodied connection to place. Sound-walks and walking arts are collective expressive arts that invite participants to engage with the natural world through mindful walking, deeply listening, and quietly bringing attention to all sounds. Phase 2 of “Sound Stories” will take listeners on a total of 2 curated sound-walks along the Marlboro Nature Trail and through the Hamlet of Marlboro in October 2026. The soundscores will be available through free downloads or live streaming on your phone.
Phase Three: Performance and Community Gathering
In mid-October, The Falcon will host a free, open-to-the-public open mic and structured improvised sound score with some local musicians and sound artists thatt encourages informal interaction between artists and audience members, fostering shared cultural experience and civic connection. The music will be structured around shared responses to the interviews, stories, and gathered sounds. The open mic will invite the audience to participate to reflect on Marlboro’s Past, Present, and Future through storytelling, poetry, and a shared community vision: a communal gathering to celebrate the project’s culmination and ongoing mission.