For the second year, the One Heart Institute is offering a week-long music and wellness retreat, which features instruction from world-class musicians, yoga, Tai Chi, mindfulness and neuroscience lectures and instruction, culminating with two public concerts and a lecture series.
The retreat takes place from June 15-22 and features new and returning instructors, according to Sophie Wu, co-founder and executive director of the program.
“What’s so unique about this program is that even though it is much like a retreat, I don’t think there are many meditation retreats where you can bring an instrument,” she smiles.
“On the other side, there are many music camps around the world, but the holistic elements may not be present. What we’re doing is honoring and nurturing musicians in a supportive, non-judgmental space. They receive guidance from our amazing musical staff, who are aligned with our focus to grow as people and musicians in a loving, transformative atmosphere- whether a beginning or professional musician.”
Multiple options are available to retreat attendees. A four-day Mindful Audition Bootcamp utilizes meditation, mindful breathing and movement techniques from yoga and Buddhist traditions to assist with the management of performance anxiety, enhancing practice and developing mind and body awareness.
Other retreat courses include an integrated mindfulness program using insight meditation to learn to listen with discernment, not judgement, to bring calmness into performance and to lessen performance-related nerves. Guitar, saxophone and improvisation courses will be offered at multiple skill levels.
A focus on mindfulness- in the practice room, the rehearsal hall and individually will be offered, as well as Taiji, sitting, standing and guided meditation, self-massage, stretching, myofascial release and postural assessment.
Dr. Clifford Saron, Research Scientist at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain is on the retreat faculty and will also offer 3 public lectures. Dr. Saron is a neuroscientist specializing in training of attention and emotion regulation, applying electrophysiological and behavioral methods to study sensory and cognitive processes in individuals. His research on “The Shamatha Project,” investigates the effects of long-term intensive meditation on physiological and psychological processes related to attention, emotion regulation and health.
Dr. Saron will be offering three talks and lead group inquiry sessions during the retreat.
“The talks take the shape of a three-cornered hat relevant to science, mindfulness and the effects of musical training,” he explains. “My role during the week is to bring multiple kinds of framing for learning in a contemplative context, where the fundamental environmental attitude is one of open inquiry, with a soft but fierce motivation.”
His first presentation, “Contemplating Musicians’ Brains is an explanation of the craft and practice of science.
“This presentation is about beholding the space of the brain toward an encounter of mystery, through the lens of neuroscience and cognitive science. The brain is in a body, which presents opportunities and constraints in what we can do,” he continues.
His second presentation, “Mind and Nature: An Interconnected Matrix” addresses neuroplasticity. “We’ll look at how the brain changes with experience and how musical training changes how you are in the world, even when not playing an instrument. Researchers have studied how musicians are able to change the representation of brain tissue.”
Dr. Saron’s final presentation will be “There’s Something About Stillness: The Effects of Intensive Meditation on Perception, Attention and Emotion.” This presentation addresses the research he has been involved in for over 20 years.
“This covers the impacts of meditative training and things that go under the rubric of mindfulness, meditation, perception, attention and emotional responsivity. There is work that suggests that meditation changes perceptional thresholds. One may even be able to respond to other’s suffering with more empathic concern, rather than overwhelm.”
“We are so fortunate to have someone as renowned as Dr. Saron on our faculty,” notes Wu. He will be offering three lectures to the public on June 16, 17, and 18 on Music, Musicians’ Brains, and Neuroscience. The talks take place at 7:30 p.m.
Dr. Wenbo Yin, One Heart Institute Artistic Director will be leading the retreat’s saxophone program. Yin received his DMA in Saxophone Performance, Wind Conducting and Jazz at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He has been a Carnegie Hall soloist and is both a classical and jazz performer, working with Grammy-award-winning artists and conducting major symphonic works. He has been the woodwind specialist for the University of Cincinnati’s Marching Band and the assistant director of their Jazz Band. He is also the Taiji instructor for the retreat.
“Each note we make does come from somewhere. Part of this retreat is learning to cultivate a sense of appreciation and gratitude from where this note, this music comes from. It’s pretty much a miracle that we are able to do this,” says Dr Yin. “In music making, we must keep opening our minds, even though we practice hours and hours. On stage, audiences are different, rooms are different. Learning to communicate so many things we must be aware of is a lot to learn for all of us. I so appreciate Barbara and people like her, who have cultivated this path for years. She teaches me how it can be done and how beneficial it can be for students.”
Barbara Bogatin is cellist with the San Francisco Symphony as well as the wife of Dr. Saron. She began her cello studies at the New School of Music in Philadelphia, continued at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division, and earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School. She has performed and recorded on Baroque cello and viola da gamba and with Dr. Saron has led workshops entitled “The Buddha, the Brain and Bach,” which explore the intersection of contemplative practice, creative process, and neuroplasticity.
“Mindfulness has so many meanings. In some ways, the meaning has been diluted by popular culture,” says Bogatin. She recalls her husband introducing her to meditation, 40 years ago. “It was similar to music practice. It’s about cultivating skills- skills of paying attention, noticing where our minds are in a non-judgmental, neutral way. That’s what I try to do when I practice the cello- slow down my physical motions and make conscious alterations of what I’m doing. I have a choice to bring my mind to the present moment. When I do that, I can think about improving or being more efficient. In performance, I try to locate a centered, calm place to express my emotions through my instrument. I talk about this with students at any level, working with them on being more present, calming the critical mind, and seeing how we can improve sound, expression and communication,” she continues. “You can be critical of the sound, but not the self. Meditation is about radical acceptance.”
Considered one of the world’s top fingerstyle, steel-string acoustic guitarists, Grammy nominee Alex de Grassi’s innovative approach to composing and arranging is influencing generations of players. From his first solo performances as a street musician to his performances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Montreux Jazz Festival, de Grassi helped lay the foundation for contemporary fingerstyle guitar. He will be offering a guitar immersion program consisting of lectures, student masterclasses, one-on-one lessons and ensemble performances.
“I learned in a somewhat different fashion than my One Heart colleagues,” says de Grassi. “I started playing trumpet in school bands and orchestras until my mom brought home a guitar. I had been playing the wrong instrument. I gave the trumpet away and started playing guitar by ear,” he continues. He took second-hand lessons from a neighbor kid, easily picked up guitar arrangement pieces, and didn’t study music at college. “I was essentially self-taught and listened to the pioneers- John Fahey, Leo Kottke, Bert Jansch and others. They inspired me to try alternate tunings, and I started writing and improvising from there.”
Though de Grassi hasn’t had formal meditation training, the way he composes incorporates a meditative element.
“I immerse myself in various scenes- musical rhythms, places, experiences, weather, seasons, textures or shapes that become part of a composition.”
A year-long transcription project provided de Grassi with an understanding of how his music was written. “Now I can write and read music decently. I learned everything backwards,” he smiles.
Like the teachings of Taiji, de Grassi teaches economy of motion to his students. “When you have three fingers that have to get from here to there, it’s all about efficiency- getting the most out of the least. When it comes to mindfulness, you have to figure out how to have the presence and awareness of where you’re going before you move,” he continues.
“I’m a fidgety guy, so I particularly enjoy the Chi Gong and Taiji exercises. When I’m playing at my very best, I’m thinking, ‘What is it that I’m doing with my body?’ It has to be very holistic.”
Jeremy Cohen is founder of Quartet San Francisco- a crossover group that values and maintains the structure of the traditional string quartet while performing everything from bluegrass, international music and jazz. The multi-Grammy-nominated group is known for its formidable technical prowess that wows audiences worldwide. A teacher and a performer, Cohen is a prolific composer and has performed on stage and film for and with artists and shows including Linda Ronstadt, Ray Charles, Carlos Santana, John William’s original Star Wars compilation CD, Forever Tango and on Broadway with The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
“I had no previous knowledge of mindfulness except visiting Buddhist shrines,” he smiles. “But my exposure has directly enriched my music, teaching, playing and pedagogy,” says Cohen.
“We grow up with our instruments, facing an endless series of experiences we end up judging. What we’re doing here is learning how to play music in a mindful way, which immediately relates to teaching improvisation. We try not to judge. Experience it, embrace it and create one’s own path.”
Cohen notes the importance and significance of teacher-student relationships.
“Most institutions have teachers with huge workloads who don’t teach to the individual spirit. I had a teacher who had one way to teach. He’d say, ‘If you don’t learn my way, you won’t be a professional.’ Even though we didn’t get along, I learned a tremendous amount from him. Years later I visited him. I forgave him and he forgave me. I teach all my students to teach themselves- to ask how they can be their best advocate, even if they’re not doing something the right way.”
Other faculty members include Dr. Alex Kahn, Assistant Conductor, Santa Rosa Symphony and Professor at Sonoma State University, and Jessica Valeri, Professor, San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Horn Player with the San Francisco Symphony.
Two public Virtuoso Concerts will take place at 7 p.m. on June 21 and 22. On June 21, a “One Heart Saxophone Night” will showcase Dr. Wenbo Yen, special guest saxophonists, Alex de Grassi and local pianist and all-things musical Spencer Brewer. The June 22 Virtuoso Concert will feature the entire One Heart faculty. “These concerts will showcase our exceptional performers playing various genres from classical, jazz to improvisation,” says Wu.
“On June 19 at 7:30 p.m., we will have a Musicians Roundtable, where all faculty members will share their journeys and stories with the public,” says Wu.
The retreat, concerts and lectures all take place at the Sudhana Center, located at the location of the former Trinity School at 225 S. Hope St. Mendocino County residents interested in attending the retreat are eligible for a local, sliding scale discount.
Advance discounted concert tickets are available at the Mendocino Book Company (cash or check only) and online at the One Heart Institute website. Tickets will sell out. Proceeds from the concert are used to fund scholarships for college students.
For more information on the camp or to reserve tickets for the concert, visit the One Heart Institute at www.oneheartinstitute.org, phone (707) 376-6731 or email info@oneheartinstitute.org.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Mindful music: One Heart Institute offering music retreat, lectures, concerts )
Also on site :