Listening Club began on October 16, 2013, at Audiotheque, my studio at ArtCenter/South Florida. It was one of the projects I developed to activate the studio and help establish it as a place for sound art in Miami.
Each episode began with an idea about sound. An invited artist or community personality selected a series of audio examples through which to explore it—a kind of show-and-tell grounded in listening. I worked with each presenter to fine-tune the episode while leaving room for individual interests and methods.
Listening Club became a forum where ideas about sound could be addressed and exchanged without turning the presentations into classes. Some guests approached their episodes more formally than others, and that variation gave the series its diverse tone. What held the programs together was listening itself: an active way to notice relationships, compare experiences and discover how sound operates around us.
Like nearly all Subtropics programs since 1995, the sessions were free and open to the public. After five seasons at Audiotheque, Listening Club was briefly revived at Books & Books in 2022 with support from the City of Coral Gables. In 2026, it made its Deering Estate debut as part of Subtropics: Audible Fields.
listening club credits:
Series Concept and Design:
Gustavo Matamoros
Brochures and Graphic Design:
Claudia Ariano, Arionographix–now Arianodesignstudio
Webcasting:
Stephen Malagodi, Spectacular Media
Guest Presenters:
Victor Aguado, Miguel Alvarez Fernandez, Sam Ashley, Robert Blatt, Thomas Buckner, Joseph Celli, Michael Dean, Adalberto Delgado, Robert Dick, Brook Dorsch, David Dunn, Michael Feathers, Russell Frehling, Fernando Gonzalez, Eric Gottlieb, Jennie Gottschalk, Jose Hernandez Sanchez, Jessica Higgins, Alison Knowles, DJ LeSpam, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Steve Malagodi, Gustavo Matamoros, Bruce Posner, Aislinn Quinn, Charles Recher, Armando Rodriguez, Guy Segers, Ladonna Smith, Jacob Sudol, Alba Triana, Kasper Toeplitz, John Van Der Slice, Kerry Ware, Davey Williams
listening club – season one | 2013—14
listening club – season one
schedule brochure
October 16, 2013 | S1E1
Egg(s)travinsky | Gustavo Matamoros
November 13, 2013 | S1E2
Guitar Tone | DJ LeSpam
December 18, 2013 | S1E3
Ancient Greece | Armando Rodriguez
January 15, 2014 | S1E4
Century Overlap | Kerry Ware
February 12, 2014 | S1E5
Shorts | Jose Hernandez
March 12, 2014 | S1E6
Vinyl as a Medium | John Van Der Slice
April 13, 2014 | S1E7
Improvements | Brook Dorsch
April 30, 2014 | S1E8
Concrete to Abstract | Alba Triana
May 14, 2014 | S1E9
Birth of Polyphony | Armando Rodriguez
listening club – season two | 2014—15
listening club – season two
schedule brochure
October 1, 2014 | S2E01
Put Yourself In My Shoes | Gustavo Matamoros
October 22, 2014 | S2E02
From Emotions to Magic Squares | Jose Hernandez Sanchez
November 12, 2014 | S2E03
78 r.p.m. | DJ LeSpam
December 10, 2014 | S2E04
The Amazing Gottschalk | Armando Rodriguez
December 21, 2014 | S2E05
Guy Segers & The Twisted Music He Listens To… | Guy Segers, Aislinn Quinn
January 7, 2015 | S2E06
STFU…Everything Becomes Melodic | Steve Malagodi
January 28, 2015 | S2E07
Electric Roots | Fernando Gonzalez
March 3, 2015 | S2E08
The Music of Robert Ashley | Thomas Buckner
March 25, 2015 | S2E09
Sound Mass and the Sonic Sciences | Alba Triana
April 12, 2015 | S2E10
Ballet Mecanique | Bruce Posner
April 16, 2015 | S2E11
The Other Flute | Robert Dick
May 06, 2015 | S2E12
Just Intonation | Jacob Sudol
May 17, 2015 | S2E13
Audible Asia | Joseph Celli
June 3, 2015 | S2E14
The Magic Bus | Michael Dean
listening club – season three | 2015—16
listening club – season three
schedule brochure
October 7, 2015 | S3E1
Songbook | Gustavo Matamoros
October 28, 2015 | S3E2
Rumba | Adalberto Delgado
December 13, 2015 | S3E3
Frank Zappa | Eric Gottlieb
January 6, 2016 | S3E4
Available Now at The Magic Minstrel | Michael Dean
January 27, 2016 | S3E5
Cellists Within Jazz | Fred Lonberg-Holm
February 10, 2016 | S3E6
Recording the Living Soundscape | David Dunn
March 2, 2016 | S3E7
The Guitar’s Journey | Armando Rodriguez
April 6, 2016 | S3E8
For The Love of Noise | Russell Frehling
May 4, 2016 | S3E9
Exploding Asia: New Directions in Asian Music | Joseph Celli
May 16, 2016 | S3E10
Eye for Sound (on Film) | Charles Recher
June 1, 2016 | S3E11
The Slippery Sound of Portamento | L. Smith + D. Williams
August 17, 2016 | S3E12
Natural Oracles of the Miami Region | Sam Ashley
listening club – season four | 2016—17
listening club – season four
schedule brochure
October 25, 2016 | S4E1
Supersonic Tales of Sound & Speed | Gustavo Matamoros
November 15, 2016 | S4E2
Listening at the Periphery of Sound | Robert Blatt
December 21, 2016 | S4E3
Zappa at 75 | Eric Gottlieb
March 1, 2017 | S4E4
Experimental Music Since 1970 | Jennie Gottschalk
April 25, 2017 | S4E5
Walter Benjamin Plays The Jukebox | Michael Dean
May 9, 2017 | S4E6
Mono in Flux | Barron Sherer, Gustavo Matamoros & Freddy Jouwayed
May 23, 2017 | S4E7
A Change in Paradigm | Kasper Toeplitz
June 9, 2017 | S4E8
Paper Weather Music | Alison Knowles & Jessica Higgins
July 19, 2017 | S4E9
Anthology of Electroacoustic Music and Sound Art in Spain | Miguel Alvarez Fernandez & Victor Aguado
listening club – season five | 2017—18
listening club – season five ( brief )
December 21, 2017 | S5E1
Frank Zappa: The 1970s | Eric Gottlieb
January 17, 2018 | S5E2
Henry Cow and Beyond | Michael Feathers
November 3, 2018 | S5E3
Installations Edition | Gustavo Matamoros
listening club – Books & Books | 2022
listening club – season one at Books & Books ( brief )
June 6, 2022 | S6E1
Eggstravinsky | Gustavo Matamoros
June 13, 2022 | S6E2
A Disturbance in the Force | Gustavo Matamoros
June 20, 2022 | S6E3
Songbook | Gustavo Matamoros
June 27, 2022 | S6E4
Supersonic Tales of Sound and Speed | Gustavo Matamoros
listening club – subtropics: audible fields | 2026
listening club – subtropics: audible fields at Deering Estate Theater
August 2, 2026 | AFE2
Listening Club: Sound in Space | Gustavo Matamoros