Sound Garden at Mass MoCA

Spring/Summer 2025, MAPS worked with children and families across the Berkshire region to create a collaborative soundscape, titled “Sound Garden”, that draws inspiration from nature. We worked in various classrooms in the Southern Berkshire Regional School District, along with programming with the Mason and Monterey Libraries. In our grand finale, we created two culminating events at Mass MoCA.

In a series of pop-up workshops, MAPS gave young creators (and their adult companions) access to our collection of electronic musical instruments to create a collage of sounds inspired by nature. Using synthesis and sampling we worked together to create the sounds of whistling birds, whooshing wind, crashing waves, sparkling sunlight and more!

These sounds were cut up and reassembled in a generative system to create an ever-changing, polyphonic composition.