Final Report: Sounds of Houston

Months ahead of the 2025 Conference in Houston, TX, CMA was on the ground, initiating a creative placemaking and oral history project, Sounds of Houston. This work, led by Renate Rohlfing and Olivia Cosío of consulting firm Sounds That Carry, paired local musicians with narrators. Together, the pairs developed sonic memoirs, which aimed to preserve narratives, soundscapes, and music in Houston communities significantly affected by climate change.

By creating collaborative sonic memoirs, Sounds of Houston aims to uncover how how art can foster deeper understanding of complex social issues. The project investigates whether hearing lived experiences through a combination of sound and music can drive meaningful change in attitudes toward climate justice and displaced communities.

To evaluate this hypothesis—if listening to first-person audio stories from residents impacted by climate change in Houston shaped public understanding and response to climate change—Cosío and Rohlfing developed short surveys for listeners.

Listen to the music developed below and take the accompanying brief pre- and post-listening surveys:

• “An Ongoing Fight” composed by Aris Kian Brown; narrated by Tangi Smith
• “Time” composed by Jalen Baker; narrated by Nichole Redus
• “We Are the New Americans” composed by Austin Lewellen; narrated by Belay Andarge & Zed Minale
• “The Storms We Work” composed by Chelsea de Souza; narrated by Jaime Alvarado

Sounds of Houston aimed to humanize the abstract concept of climate change, making it tangible and immediate.

What were the outcomes of the project? Read the Sounds of Houston Final Report.