“The Acoustic Mediation of Voice, Self, and Others” deals with spatial-relational and acoustic dimensions that are naturalized through distinct sonic, performative, and listening practices. Two operas are examined: Meredith Monk’s 2008 Songs of Ascension (originally composed for a sculptural tower with a double helix stairway and subsequently rearranged for traditional performance venues) and the 2013 opera-for-headphones production of Christopher Cerrone’s Invisible Cities (performed in the bustle and everyday activity of Los Angeles’s Union Station but delivered to audiences via headphones). The chapter shows that most of the live music we hear in the Western context is presented within an acoustic...