Expo Leeds, the UK's largest weekend of sound art and experimental music, will be featuring a sonic art installation by Paul Rooney at Broadcasting Place.

The festival, which runs from 24 to 29 September 2009 is set to illustrate the powerful, creative and playful nature of listening.

Winner of the 2008 Northern Art Prize, UK sound and video artist Paul Rooney will culminate a 12 month commission with a series of performances, exploring the decommissioned Leeds Metropolitan University's H Building, and the lost stories and disembodied voices of its inhabitants.

Part academic lecture, part sci-fi story, Rooney's new sound work excavates real and imagined histories trapped inside H building as it faces demolition.

Expo Leeds will unveil a programme of major new sound art commissions for the city, including work by other artists of international standing including Christina Kubisch, Lee Patterson, Chris Watson, Yannick Dauby and Mira Calix.

The festival includes live performances, public events, workshops and a wiki-based, self-organising conference, to spark ideas about sound art and its relation to place and society.

Sue Ball, of Media & Arts Partnership said: "Expo represents a very special opportunity for the city of Leeds, welcoming the national public and artists to become immersed in what's new in sound art and experimental music.

"Leeds' music scene is truly diverse and it is rightfully proud of its traditions, from its DIY roots to the staging of international music events such as the Fuse festival and Opera North's extended programme; the city is a hotbed of interest in the contemporary nature of sound and music.

"Pioneering works by Bill Fontana on the façade of Leeds City Art Gallery, and sound artist Hans Peter Kuhn's work for the soon-to-be-launched 'Light' Neville Street, demonstrate the potency of public sound art. Expo Leeds takes this thirst for sound and music and sites it within the common places, where audiences can listen afresh."

Richard Whitelaw of Sound and Music said: "Year on year, Expo is where internationally reputed artists rub shoulders with the next generation of newcomers in this rapidly growing artform.

"Leeds is a pioneering city in many ways, with a long-established history of commissioning new sound art, and a place the art world should be tuned into.

"Its industrial heritage has left the city with some stunning and acoustically fascinating spaces that our artists have been inspired to work with. The canvas is sound, the setting is Leeds, and the experience is for anyone with a mind to stop, listen and enjoy."