Alan Williams introduces the idea of collaborative composition, and discusses recent developments in his own participatory work – called 'The Listening Composer' – which explore the ground between community arts and professional composition.

'The listening composer' is a method for community-based collaborative music composition based on techniques of listening from several sources. These are used to facilitate the communal creation of a piece of music, with the aim of effectively sharing and communicating the lived experiences of participants to a wider audience. Also informing the method are participatory methods from the field of industrial design. Alan Williams will share his experiences of two recent 'Listening Composer' projects with diverse participatory groups.