"The Light of Beauty Exists Inside Every Human Being!"

A Music Workshop at Integral New York, November 2009

Over the past twenty-eight years, I have taught piano to hundreds of students. And yet, what probably comes to mind when you think of “piano lessons,” has little to do with what happens for people when they sit with me at the keyboard.

Imagine yourself discovering that you can create music of disarming beauty—even if you have little or no musical background. Imagine finding a confidence through music that defies any preconceptions you may have about yourself or life. Imagine watching another individual transform before your eyes as original piano music emerges spontaneously from her fingertips. Imagine experiencing reality in a new way as a result of music, where limitation and fear are replaced by positivity and Love.

In my workshops—which consist of solo piano performances, improvised duets with members of the audience, meditation, lecture, dialogue, and videos of great musicians—participants experience all of the above and more.

I am simply transmitting to others what music means to me. From the time I was quite young, improvising endlessly on the blues, or learning by ear my favorite James Taylor chord progression, or playing the most sublime Mozart composition, gave me solace amidst tumultuous circumstances. I was blessed that my family had a beautiful Steinway grand—the same instrument on which I now teach my students. Without fail, each time I would sit at the piano, music magically transmuted the effect of whatever was occurring around me. It made me whole.

In November, I conducted an interactive workshop in New York City sponsored by the Integral New York/Ken Wilber Meet-up Group. This particular event was created in collaboration with music educator, Lesley Stoller, who does groundbreaking work at the Queens Children’s Psychiatric Hospital. During the course of the evening, two participants, Susan Babcock and Jackie Sabin, improvised in duet with me. Although Susan had extensive formal training on piano and harpsichord, she believed herself incapable of improvising her own music. Jackie’s musical background was limited, consisting of trumpet studies in middle school. Despite their trepidation, both took the risk and sat down with me at the keyboard.

As you’ll see in this video, the experience awakened each woman to her inherent musical ability!



Indeed, my workshops are intended to effect deep and lasting transformation. Susan later wrote to me, “The most amazing thing happened last night. I practiced some of my classical piano pieces for over three hours and at the end, I decided to go for it. Improvise. Jessica, it was no more ‘accomplished’ than what I did with you in the workshop. But, like that session, it set my heart free. I didn't do it ‘well.’ I did it. Your workshop has burst a dam that’s been constricting me in my musical and personal expression for my whole life, ever since I learned how to be self-conscious. It’s like you’re saying to all the dark cynics in the world, 'Look at this!! The light of beauty exists inside every single human being!!'”

“A creativity I thought belonged only to talented artists”

Barbara Larisch of Integral New York
describes her experience improvising at the piano

Improvising with people of all ages and backgrounds is one of the most exciting dimensions of my work. When someone first sits with me at the piano, I begin by playing an evenly rhythmic, harmonically pleasing accompaniment in the bass (on the white notes, key of C). At a certain point, I ask the individual to improvise a melody in the treble (also on the white notes). Inevitably, he or she begins to explore, to venture out, experiment and expand, inspired by the sounds emerging from their own fingers and mine.

Barbara Larisch, who helped promote my recent events for the Integral New York/Ken Wilber Meet-up Group, took the leap and improvised with me during my first iNYC event in June, 2009. Her thoughtful reflections beautifully articulate the experience many have:

“When I was invited to play an improvised duet, I was at first very reluctant. I never thought of myself as musically inclined and I felt self-conscious about my lack of ability. But when I sat down at the keyboard and tentatively placed my fingers on the keys, as Jessica suggested, I felt my awareness of the room slowly slipping away.

"At first, all of my attention was focused on the mechanics of playing and I tried hard to integrate my rudimentary notes with the beautiful sounds that were arising from Jessica’s playing. It was a very cognitive and kinesthetic experience, very much like learning how to balance on a two-wheeled bicycle for the first time. Jessica’s presence was always with me, though. Her fingers were dancing across the keyboard and I discovered that the more I let go of my fears, the more playful our music became. Her voice was there in the background, coaxing me to let myself relax into the experience. My whole body started to release its tension and I realized that I was enjoying the dance that was unfolding. Each moment thereafter became an opportunity to be playful and creative and I found myself taking more and more risk.

“Then the quality of my listening began to change. I found myself responding musically to the notes that she was playing. We were having a conversation without words. But I knew that a language was being spoken because I became aware of shifts in mood, as the notes grew stronger and more playful, and then little by little, slower and softer. I became aware that I was co-creating these beautiful sounds with Jessica and I sometimes felt like we took turns playing the lead, like two dancers do, wordlessly and without any communication. The joy I discovered in expressing myself musically awakened a creativity in me that I thought belonged only to talented artists. But now I see that the impulse to create lies deep inside each one of us.”

This video from my Integral New York workshop, June 2009, shows Barbara improvising for the first time: