Jean Routhier has a sound-based practice that comprises soundwalks, manipulated field recordings, acousmatic works, live performances, and installations. Interested in the fleeting, the gaps and the in-betweens, the silences, and the physical and emotional reactions to listening, Routhier’s productions challenge our common expectations of what can be musical.

As an artist my strongest interest lies with the evocative power of sound and its flexibility to accomodate itself to different exhibition conditions. I find the immateriality of the medium allows to transform any space and engage it’s visitors in a direct way by requiring active listening, thus enabling the intrisinc emotional and physical impact of the sounds to resonate with them. My practice mostly focuses on the textures and dynamics of manipulated field recordings. Informed by my parrallel activites as a freelance sound technician, editor and consultant, I am also keen on exploring in the important delivery systems used for audio playback using unorthodox recording and reinforcement technics.

Over the years I have been involved with numerous cultural groups dedicated to the presentation of media and sonic arts.

I sit on the board of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC) and was on the technical, engineering and production commitees for CFRO 100.5 FM radio Vancouver as well as the Community Radio Education Society’s Media Arts Commitee from 1999 to 2004. I also shared host-producer duties for the radio show “Soundscapes” (on CFRO radio). I am a member of SOCAN, the Canadian composers’ rights society.