to Hildegard Westerkamp, for opening up her heart and home to me, for trusting me with so much of her life and work, for walking with me in British Columbia, in Ontario and in my dreams

to the over two hundred listeners who participated in this study, for the insight, surprise and challenge of their responses

to my supervisor, James Tenney, for his inspiring ideas and generous attitudes about composition, contemporary music, and how to listen intently

to Beverley Diamond for her clear thinking about identity issues and her excitement about new approaches to fieldwork; for her consistent support, challenge and energy

to Jody Berland for fuelling my interests in praxis, cultural theory and contemporary music since we first met seventeen years ago; for continuing to spark new directions in my creative work and research

to Lorraine Code for her insights about second-person epistemology and for urging me to develop the "connective tissue" of my writing

to Norma Sue Fisher-Stitt, Jane Couchman and Katharine Norman for their insightful commentary on the dissertation in its final stages

to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and to York University for providing scholarships to support this research, and to Concordia University for supporting the creation of the online version

to the Canadian Association for Sound Ecology for their support of my work; particularly to former board members Claude Schryer and Gayle Young for presenting the CD ROM in Stockholm

to Jean Routhier, Barb Woolner, Andrea Polli, Barry Truax, and the staff of earsay productions, for helping to organize listener response sessions

to Tere Tilban-Rios for assistance in negotiating the paperwork

to Evy Strong, Don Sinclair and the staff of the Winters Fine Arts Computer Centre, for providing access to computer facilities in a supportive environment

to Judith, Jean, and Jeff McCartney; Kate Thomas, Peter van Wyck, Don Sinclair, Donna Warr, Mawgan Macdonald, Karen Pegley, Gary Ferrington, Laurence Montgomery, Joshua Thorpe, Bob Gluck, Joel Chadabe and Lauren Pratt for the stimulating conversations about various parts of this study

to my daughter, Sian Hughes, for accompanying me to North Toronto C.I. and for mulling over many of the issues raised in that session

to my son, Daniel Hughes, for being my science fiction companion (including the all-day Alien series extravaganza) and for the assistance with data entry

to my dog Nikita for being my first audience for Moments of Laughter and for stirring me to go for walks

and most of all to my partner, P. S. Moore, for his creative collaboration in Soundwalking Queen Elizabeth Park; for organizing the move to Montreal as I wrote; for even on the difficult days, making me laugh

Thank you.