The group exhibits cult-like behaviours and engage in activities such as shooting at signal towers they believe could be the source of the noise, which attracts police attention.
In a review for NRK Eystein Sandvik wrote that The Listeners was Mazzoli's most ambitious work to date, which he felt placed her at the forefront of American composers since John Adams.
[8] Writing for Bachtrack in a four-star review, Cameron Keshall noted that the Academy of Music was "packed to the gills" for a weekday evening performance.
Keshall felt that Adam Riggs scenic design "suggested a darker world...beneath manicured surfaces", but that the dancing could have been cut.
Keshall was hopeful than the young audience members would be drawn back to attending further operas, "If the company continues to produce works as daring and satisfying as this".
[9] The Washington Classical Review was less positive, with Alex Baker criticising the treatment of the subject matter, writing "The Listeners feels more like the take on a cult you’d get in a mid-90s Saturday Night Live sketch."
However, Baker indicated a decline in quality as the cult was introduced, calling many of the plot points "generic" and stating that the libretto contained "filler" in Act II.
Baker calls into question Burdette's potrayal of Howard, stating that the audience would find it difficult to identify with anyone would could be influenced by such a "malignant buffoon".