I’m in the midst of preparations for our final Ananda Concert Series program, entitled Ananda Classics. We’ll be performing on Saturday night, May 17th, at 7:30 PM at the Crystal Hermitage, surrounded by the beauty of the gardens.
This will be the first time in nearly twenty years that Swami’s String Quartet will be performed in its entirety, comprised of four movements based on songs of Shakespeare. I’ll be joined by Ramesha and Krishnabai (violins), and Ben Skillman (cello). Swami has often spoke of how he wrote his String Quartet, giving the melody to each of the instruments in turn, providing each with an opportunity to shine.
Also on the program will be Amrita, for flute and keyboard, The Divine Romance, Swami’s Piano Sonata performed by Mukti Deranja, and I, Omar, featuring Bhagavati on flute, backed by the lush string section.
The final piece will be Life Is the Quest for Joy, featuring 3 violins, 3 cellos, and our dear friend, Steve D’Amico on string bass, from the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. This is one of Swami’s greatest masterpieces, which always takes the audience into a very deep awareness of the Divine. In fact, it is this piece that best teaches me how I should live my life, as it naturally expands my consciousness and opens my heart. I merely have to think of the melodies for my energy to rise in my spine.
We are all overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity to attune ourselves with the Divine Inspiration that has flowed so beautifully through Swamiji, and in this, his birthday weekend, wish to offer this opportunity for our audience to tangibly feel his presence.
As I went back into the community center to pick up the last of my things after the concert, I could tangibly feel the beauty that the students created with their music. I stood for a moment in the now empty hall, and tried to imprint the feeling and vibration of this beautiful evening into my memory.
Last Friday night, Dec 7th, was our annual Living Wisdom School Christmas Concert, presenting the entire K-12 classes in an hour long program. I am so blessed to be working with such a talented group of young singers and instrumentalists. We have around 50 students, with a few hours each week to rehearse, and it is remarkable what these kids can do! We have the 21 high schoolers singing 4 part songs, including Handel’s Halleluiah Chorus this year, which is quite an undertaking! They rose to the challenge beautifully, and have learned to sing not only beautifully, but from a deeper place of inspiration than ever before.
Here is an excerpt from one of the pieces they did by themselves, without me conducting, entitled “Ave Verum Corpus” by Mozart. See if you can feel how beautifully they can present the music not only with sound, but with their feeling and channeling of inspiration.
There were many many singers who wanted to do solos, but of course there aren’t enough places to fit them all in! Here is “The Christmas Mystery,” written by Swami Kriyananda, featuring Balarama’s 2 – 3 grade class singing the first verse, a quartet of High School boys singing the second, and Sam, a second grader, beginning the fourth. (I’ve edited the recording for these highlights).
The auditorium was packed to capacity, and many felt the great blessings that these incredible kids shone forth through their music that night. My job is to keep them busy with the most inspired songs I can possibly find, and challenge them to feel as deeply as they can the Divine Presence within each one.
On Saturday, November 10th we had our third evening in the Ananda Concert Series, entitled Inner Awakenings. Held once again at the Crystal Hermitage Dome, we played and sang to a full house of long time devotees and newcomers alike, with music and interspersed guided meditations from Swami Kriyananda’s book, Awaken to Superconsciousness.
Melody, it has been said, symbolizes the aspiration of the heart, and words are thoughts crystalized - combining the two creates an incredibly powerful experience for a listener. In this program we tried to tune in to the vibration, the consciousness behind each guided meditation, and then chose music that fit that same feeling. If you’d like to listen for yourself to Swami Kriyananda reading two such meditations with music, I’d highly recommend the CD Meditations to Awaken Superconsciousness, available from Crystal Clarity Publishers. I will also be posting some of the audio from this concert very soon!
I’ve been doing a great deal of thinking about inspiration and the music, and the mystery of why music can affect us so deeply. Why can one piece inspire us, while another just leaves us flat? There aren’t any notes in music that are better than others, and after all, music is only a collection of sound waves. But is that truly all it is?
We are realizing that music is a vehicle for conveying states of inspiration, great or small. By consciously attuning ourselves to the inspiration of each song and consciously projecting that inspiration to the audience, we can create a very powerful experience to those that have ears and hearts to hear and feel. Here at Ananda, we are striving to become an example of musicians who perform with consciousness. Our singers here may not be on the same technical level as those in professional singing groups, but what we have to offer in the way of inspiration has truly changed people’s lives.
As the program progressed that evening, the audience went deeper and deeper into states of higher awareness. It was wonderful see faces in the audience filled with bliss! I’m hoping that the concert was not only a pleasing aural experience, but more importantly a direct experience of inspiration.
To listen to one of the guided meditations, click on the play button below:
At the conclusion we were faced with a very interesting problem: how do we honor those who would like to stay inward, while allowing others to share their appreciation? You can’t stop people from clapping, but perhaps as the cycles of time progress, we will find another way of sharing appreciation and thanks.
Our next performance will be Christ Lives: an Oratorio on Sunday evening, Dec 16th, at the Expanding Light Temple. Hope to see you there!
This past weekend we presented our second concert in our Ananda Concert Series, entitled An Evening with St. Francis, presenting the life of the great saint with narration and music written by Swami Kriyananda.
The dome of the Crystal Hermitage was filled to capacity with close to 70 in the audience as we began our program. First, Bhagavati and Ramesha Nani and I played a set of pieces from Mediterranean Magic to set the Italian mood. Bhagavati, a wonderfully talented flutist, and Ramesha, her husband, equally talented in guitar and violin, are dear friends who have been here at the village for over the past year, assisting in all our musical endeavors. (What a joy it is to have kindred professional musicians that can also deeply appreciate Swami’s music!)
Following the instrumental set, we began the 55 minute program of the life of St. Francis, narrated by Ishaq Johnson, with instrumental interludes and a ten voice choir led by Jeannie Tschantz. With Ishaq’s beautifully attuned narration and Jeannie’s sensitive direction, we were able to invoke the spirit of the great saint. One could easily feel the purity of heart, the sweetness of love, and the unconditional spirit of living for God alone. Many in the audience were deeply moved.
Performing in the Crystal Hermitage is, in a way, like performing in a spiritual Carnegie Hall - the vibrations, the spiritual ambiance of the dome make it much easier to create and tap into the inspirition of the program, just as the acoustics of Carnegie Hall make it so enjoyable to listen.
Our concert series consists of seven programs throughout the year. Our first, I Came From Joy, was on September 22nd, and featured the children’s music of Swami Kriyananda. Our next concert is on Saturday, November 10th, and is entitled Heart Songs, Soul Songs. If you’d like more information, please contact our music office at 530-478-7687.
The Ananda Living Wisdom School began last Wednesday, with more than 70 students from preschool through college enrolled! As the music director for the school, they asked me to lead everyone in singing the school theme song, written by Swami Kriyananda, entitled “Sing in the Meadows.” The words and music speak beautifully to what we try to impart:
Sing in the meadows and ev’rywhere:
Sing out a blessing to ev’ryone!
Lift up your voices, Lift your hands on high.
Sing and the battle is won.
What is needed in any quest for success? The ability to raise your energy to meet challenges. What is needed to find true happiness? An expansion of awareness and sympathies - when we bless others, we in turn are blessed by the expansion of our own consciousness.
Music plays a crucial role in the school, and I am lucky enough to work with all the classes. In our high school choir we began work on Handel’s Halleluiah Chorus today, if you can believe it! There are about 22 enrolled from 7th – 12th grade, and yet last spring we were able to put on a production of The Sound of Music. Needless to say, there are many many talented students!
We work a great deal with the music of Swami Kriyananda in all the grades, not from a dogmatic “this is what we do” approach, but because the kids love to sing the songs, and it works! When the classes are done, the energy in the room has changed, and the kids have touched something deeper than just pretty melodies and interesting rhythms – they are able to feel the inspiration behind the songs, whether it be love, high energy, joy, or peace.
I have the deep blessing to work with the music at Ananda Village. Most of my work is presenting music written by Swami Kriyananda, which comprises over 400 vocal and instrumental pieces.
This summer we’ve had many performances: one at Ananda village, another at the Seattle Temple Dedication, and still more at the Revelations of Christ book launch in Los Angeles, featuring instrumentalists from around the world, and a 75 voice choir.
Why do we only perform the music of Swami Kriyananda? Those of us in the choir can testify to the power of his music, which is subtly different from other classical and sacred music. When we sing or play, our goal is to tap into the inspiration that gave birth to each piece, and try to channel that inspiration outward, while performing the notes as well as possible.
I was honored to speak as part of a panel at our Joyful Arts Festival a few weeks ago, where I tried to explain that thoughts and feelings are dynamic energies in themselves, and can be infused into music. Isn’t it true that we can feel, to some extent, what composers have felt?
We know that our ears can only pick up a small segment of the spectrum of sound waves. Isn’t it possible then, that we can feel vibrations of thought and feeling, even though we have no way, as of yet, to scientifically register them?
Swami has never written music from a personal perspective, but rather has expressed different states of consciousness in a very impersonal way, so that we ourselves, can make them our own more easily.
Imagine going in to a second-hand shop and trying on things that were specifically tailored to one person, and don’t quite fit the way you’d like. Swami’s music is like going to a fabric store to find unlimited bolts of inner strength, peace, courage, and devotion, and then having it tailored to fit our own personal needs.
Most people’s music speaks of their own personal experience of life - how can it not? For instance, one person may sing of their own experience of Divine Love, or of courage. We can be uplifted and encouraged by their song, but if we were to try and sing it, we rarely are able to feel what they felt in their personal experience.
Swami, on the other hand, has composed music with the essence of Divine Inspiration, not narrowed in personal expression, but presented in its true and fullest essence.
Many people have wondered why we present only Swami’s music at Ananda. The music at Ananda is not music for music’s sake, or a place to showcase his songwriting talent above anyone else’s. It is here simply as a direct conduit to higher states of consciousness. Swami in fact often calls this music “our music”, because he does not consider it his own. Certainly it does not reflect his limiting personality.
These days he isn’t able to spend much personal time with people, and has said, “If you want to get to know me, listen to my music”. In listening to this music, we begin to meet not the personality of Donald Walters, but the consciousness that this extraordinary human being has been able to reach.
Last month I had the honor to be the audio engineer during Swami Kriyananda’s recording of the Revelations of Christ audio book.
To hear him read the book, which he calls his best-written, was an experience in eloquence. The book covers subjects of science and Christianity that so badly need to be addressed in our times.
I wanted to share with you a glimpse of the recording process. Every morning Swamiji would come in promptly at 10:00, overflowing with energy and enthusiasm, ready to begin. He would sit in the small, stuffy recording booth, and read hour after hour with such inflection and feeling that each word of the book was truly brought to life.
If any of you have trouble recording phone greeting messages, or have ever had to record anything, you know how difficult it can be to read all the words correctly and give them the right inflection and emphasis.
Now imagine doing so with sight impediment! Swamiji at 81, had a lack of focus in one eye during the sessions (which has since been remedied). You would think that with his eye condition, a book of some 450 pages would take weeks to record. He finished it in about 4 and a half days!
If you have ever been in his presence, you know how much energy he can channel. It can be quite a challenge to keep up with him. Often during these sessions I would wonder how long I could continue - you really notice how badly some chairs are designed, when you are sitting in one hour after hour without moving!
I was amazed at how Swamiji would continue working without needing to stop. Thankfully, I discovered that I too could tap into the flow of energy that sustained him, which gave me a glimpse of what he himself must be feeling.
Whenever we are challenged by others to put out more energy (as I’ve encountered in countless orchestra rehearsals with emblazoned conductors), we always have the opportunity to say yes! It may be challenging to those of us who are quite comfortable in our easy chairs of life, but what a thrill it is to fly with Divine Energy.
Swamiji would stop after perhaps 3 hours of recording. He would show no exhaustion, but was filled with the energy and consciousness that permeate the book. Those of us who were in the studio could testify to the power of something much greater taking place, than merely the words being vocalized.
My hope is that after reading this post you will feel inspired to read the book, or listen to it. MP3 CDs are available now through Crystal Clarity Publishers, and will soon be available through iTunes.
As I went back into the community center to pick up the last of my things after the concert, I could tangibly feel the beauty that the students created with their music. I stood for a moment in the now empty hall, and tried to imprint the feeling and vibration of this beautiful evening into my memory.
