R. Murray Schafer and the preservation of the sound environment of the natural worldJonathan Yeoh 10100149MUSI 333 Dr. Friedeman SallisR. Murray Schafer and the preservation of the sound environment of the natural world. Murray Schafer (1933-) is arguably one of the most influential living composers in the world today and has developed extremely insightful thoughts on the connection between music, sound and environmentalism. Through his music, writing and pedagogy, he has established himself as a leading figure in environmental music and has thus made significant progress towards the preservation of the sound environment and the natural world. Hailed as one of Canada's most successful composers, Schafer has made important contributions to the fields of music, ecology, and pedagogy, and continues to influence others through his theories on these concepts. Among his writings he often mentions the dangers of noise pollution to the global soundscape and, to combat this, we need societal awareness of the acoustic framework in which we live. Schafer worked to achieve this goal in a variety of ways. . Firstly, his compositions are part of what he calls “environmental theater”, in which music must be played in a natural setting, thus participating in the soundscape. Schafer believed that the greatest and most important changes in art were achieved through context rather than stylistic changes, and led to his decision that these environmental compositions would be the most important means of raising public awareness of natural soundscape. Second, Schafer has established himself as a leading figure in soundscape studies and is considered the...... middle of paper ...... between environmentalism and the arts. As the founder of the World Soundscape Project, he has raised significant awareness of noise pollution while presenting various solutions to the academic community and the public. Through his compositions, he aims for a transformative experience that explores the relationship between nature and the arts, and how crucial the soundscape is to human culture. In his foresight, he also focuses on pedagogy in order to influence and inspire the future to take initiatives to preserve and improve the state of the global soundscape. Not only does R. Murray Schafer establish himself around the world as a leading figure in environmental preservation, but he also strives to advance the soundscape, through the collaboration of all disciplines to create an environment healthier sound for the future.