A Song for May: Ave Maria
Dear friends,
I hope this note finds you well on this beautiful Spring day! This week I have been taking a meditation course with my friend Susan Quirke, a wonderful meditation teacher in the West of Ireland. The mantra we use is in Sanskrit, a language in which each word has its own frequency that vibrates through you, transforming and healing your nervous system. The course couldn’t have come at a better time; like so many are experiencing, last week was emotionally rocky, draining my energy and motivation for anything constructive. (I watched a LOT of The Great British Bake-Off.) But as I have engaged this practice and this mantra, letting the word vibrate through me the last few days, my mind and body feel clearer and lighter, and I feel more myself.
It has caused me to reflect this morning on the healing nature of sound and music. While “sound therapy” might seem a little abstract for some, on some level that’s what we musicians provide, for ourselves and for our audiences. We give ourselves a sound bath by going to the opera or symphony, Broadway or concerts. We play in orchestras and bands, sing in choirs and churches, the vibrations that we create and that those around us create resonating through us. It lifts us, washes through us, sweeps over us, pierces us, bursts within us.
Healing through sound.
And so while the musical community seems to be disconcertedly fraying at the edges, while we question the resilience of the arts organizations that give our craft a stage, while we patiently and impatiently await the time when we may step out from behind our screens and sing together — in person! — feeling each others’ vibrations pulse through the air and through us....
We sing. We may not sing every day; it takes greater courage, singing alone, and yet our minds and bodies ache for it. The world aches for it. And so we persist, finding ways to let music vibrate through our bodies still.
My intention is to record and share a song every month or so, a gift to myself and to you. The recordings will undoubtedly be imperfect; perfection is not my goal. I simply wish to continue creating, and offering. If this meets you, please do check back for another in a few weeks’ time, and stay in touch.
May you and yours be well, friends! Courage to you all.
Be well,