Happy Friday, friends!

Today I wanted to point you to a “Can Do,” a great piece on Ben Franklin from And the Pursuit of Happiness, Maira Kalman’s blog on the NY Times site. In it, she looks into the genius of Ben Franklin, which was as much about pointed self-improvement as it was invention.

This part made me particularly happy: “I don’t think he was ever bored. He saw a dirty street and created a sanitation department. He saw a house burning down and created a Fire Department. He saw sick people and founded a hospital.”

And this: “Everything is invented. Language. Childhood. Careers. Relationships. Religion. Philosophy. The Future. They are not there for the plucking. They don’t exist in some natural state. They must be invented by people. And that, of course, is a great thing. Don’t mope in your room. Go invent something. That is the American message.”

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There are marathons and bike-a-thons and walk-a-thons, but on Sunday, June 22, Riverbrook Residence in Stockbridge, MA hosted what may be the world’s first Piano Improv-a-thon!

Riverbrook, the oldest facility for women for developmental disabilities in New England, is where I teach music. In collaboration with Riverbrook director Joan Burkhard and the many wonderful people on the staff, this event helped fulfill my aspiration to show that, no matter who we are, beauty is inherent to us all by virtue of being human.

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It’s so great to hear from Jessica on her work with the women of Riverbrook Residence. What is possible is so much more than we think, and it’s wonderful that she and her students were able to share this in such a real sense with Governor Patrick. Thanks, Jessica! -ed.

What an amazing night! A few nights ago, my blind student Tanny Labshere and I had the opportunity to play a piano duet for the Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick. For the occasion—a small fundraising party at a private home—we created a special medley of “We Shall Overcome” and “America the Beautiful.” At the last chord, there was a palpable absorption in the room - everyone was completely focused on our playing. People were deeply moved.

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It was an exciting week on The Sunny Way!

• On Monday, I shared my thoughts and a link to one of my favorite articles on Bright Green thinking, to kick off Earth Week.
• On Tuesday, Sarah updated us on all the exciting developments in the fight against Mountaintop Removal coal mining.
• On Wednesday and Thursday, Uli wrote about how human beings can continue developing without limitation and without destroying the planet more quickly—in the realm of consciousness.

Today I wanted to share with you an amazing video I encountered in my surfing this week. Playing for Change brings together musicians from around the world to collaborate on musical and service projects. This is one of the first videos they produced, and it gave me shivers!

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I recently discovered through a musician friend, Judy Gerratt, this amazing Venezuelan man, named Jose Abreu. He has developed a system of teaching music to young children and created youth orchestras throughout his country. In this video on the TED site, he describes why and how music is having a transformational effect on Venezuelan children.

Here is a quote from near the end of his speech:

“The huge spiritual world that music produces, which also lies within itself, is the end of overcoming material poverty. The minute a child plays, he is no longer poor. The historian, Arnold Toynbee, said that the world is suffering a huge spiritual crisis…I believe that to confront such crisis, only art and religion can give proper answers to humanity, to mankind’s deepest aspirations and the historic demands of our time.”

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This video is taken from a performance called, “Flying Free: Music without Limits.” It features improvised and semi-improvised piano duets with the women I teach at Riverbrook Residence in Stockbridge, MA. Riverbrook is home to twenty-three women.

Under the direction of Joan Burkhard, a committed staff is creating the optimum conditions for women with developmental disabilities to be supported in every dimension of life. This is the environment I entered as a piano teacher in Fall, 2007. In my work with the women, I became disarmed by the result. As you’ll see, these women confirm that beauty arises from the deepest level of being, unfettered by any limitation. They demonstrate why music is, arguably, our most powerful and universal means of human expression and is present in us all!

image by dtcchc

The Concert for Peace has been an annual New Year’s Eve event at St John the Divine Church for 26 years.  The concert was started by Leonard Bernstein in 1983. This year, to commemorate his ninetieth birthday, three excerpts of pieces from West Side Story were chosen to be performed.  My friend and I sat behind the orchestra in old wooden pews carved for individual sitters.

The concert was a beautiful combination of musical performances and spoken word to reflect on for 2009.  Religious leaders from all different faiths spoke briefly on themes of peace, trust, and truth. Harry Smith, one of the Cathedral’s trustees, emphasized that we evaluate our values. He suggested that in these financially difficult times ahead, it would be wise to turn away from trust in things to trust in each other.

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A friend, John Steiner, recently sent an email that included a quote from the philosopher, physician, theologian, and musician, Dr. Albert Schweitzer. “…Just as the rivers we see are minor compared to underground streams,” Schweitzer said, “So, too, the idealism that is visible is minor compared to what people carry in their hearts unreleased or scarcely released.”
I’ve taught music for almost three decades to students of all ages, cultures, levels of experience and most recently to women with developmental disabilities who are blind, autistic or have Down’s syndrome. (A video of a recent performance will be posted soon.) What I am witnessing confirms that the beauty we carry in our hearts, often unreleased, is far greater than what is apparent.
 
Schweitzer, who won the 1953 Nobel Peace Prize, went on to say that, “Humankind is waiting and longing for those who can accomplish the task of untying what is knotted, and bringing these underground waters to the surface.”  At this holiday season, I believe that if we look closely, if we have faith in the beauty that’s there, hidden below the surface, we will help bring it to light.
For inspiration, here’s a track from my first CD, Pachelbel’s Canon in D

Happy Holidays!

Carol Ray

What is activism? It’s going deeper than we’ve ever gone before. I can’t wait to see the video of this concert! -ed.

A multi-media/musical event called “Flying Free: Music without Limits,” which I created and directed, was staged last Sunday at a small concert hall in Pittsfield, MA. I performed on a wonderful Steinway grand piano with women I teach from the Riverbrook Residence in Stockbridge. These women have disabilities that range from blindness to autism and Down’s syndrome (I’ve written about this in previous posts.) As they played, their words—in which they describe their experience of music—were projected on a screen for the audience.

The women and I performed improvised and semi-improvised duets. Some of them are only just beginning to play the piano; one woman who is blind is quite adept.  Regardless of the level of experience, each woman played with disarming authenticity, creativity and naturalness. The 60-70 people who attended witnessed something of revelatory beauty that went far beyond my own expectations and theirs.  What occurred, I believe, had the hallmarks of a new kind of art and aesthetics.

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Nearly every Sunday, I play the piano for services at a small, rural church in the hill town of Worthington, MA.  The minister, Reverend Doug Small, is a great advocate for God and for the beauty of music, two reasons why I love to accompany his services.  Prior to the service this past Sunday, Rev. Small described to me what he was going to say so I could choose an appropriate piece for the piano solo.  Sunday’s theme would be Thanksgiving, for which he’d offer this counsel: “As we approach the holiday, if you cannot find something to be grateful for, just look more deeply.”

I thought, we need a song that celebrates our re-awakened appreciation for life. So that’s what I played—my piano rendition of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

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I can safely say that I’m a pianist by birth. My mother played beautifully and during her pregnancy with me, as she practiced Brahms and Schumann, their melodies no doubt penetrated the walls of her womb and entered my developing consciousness. I have no idea when it was that I first tried to plunk out notes on the piano.  I was that young.

In 2006, after working for a few years as a senior editor for What is Enlightenment? Magazine (now EnlightenNext), I returned to teaching and performing music.  In so doing, it became apparent that music is still with me. It’s in my blood. When I’m at the piano, I give every ounce of my attention to each note, each span of silence, the arc of each musical phrase. I shape sound and silence like a potter shapes clay. In return, music gives me doubtless confidence—in beauty.

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(As Jessica encourages her students to trust and open up to new possibilities within themselves, so we at The Sunny Way hope to inspire you to think about the future in new ways, and act in new ways to create it. Enjoy this beautiful video! -ed)

Last fall, I began teaching piano at the Riverbrook Residence for women with developmental disabilities in Stockbridge, MA. Riverbrook is a rare and special place—the women there are supported in every dimension of life. I often remind myself of how new this phenomenon is.  It has been only a few decades since ABC news reporter, Geraldo Rivera exposed the shockingly inhuman conditions at Willowbrook—an institution for those with mental retardation on Staten Island, NY.  In doing so he helped bring this issue into our collective conscience. The care for those with developmental disabilities is, I believe, central to the evolution of humanity as a whole.

While things have generally improved since Rivera’s report in the early 1970’s, Riverbrook stands out as a remarkable place. Because of its uniquely supportive environment, the women trust me, and work closely with me. I, in turn, am discovering a new dimension in my own teaching as I witness them express, through our piano improvisations and group music activities, strikingly individual aesthetic sensibilities.  This experience is proving to me that the Authentic Self—that part of us that is beautiful, natural and free—is, indeed, universal and unfettered by any limitation.

In this video, Tanny Labshere, whom I wrote about in my previous post, is playing an improvised duet with me. It will give you a first-hand experience of what I am describing.

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image by Schizoform

This is the second part of a guest post by playwright, actress, and activist Sarah Moon about how her new play on mountaintop removal coal-mining fits into the larger picture of creating a clean and just future. You can read the first part here. For more information on Sarah’s work, please visit http://www.nylovesmountains.com.

One of the things I’ve noticed most since I began this work is the constant need to renew one’s awareness. Many times I have grasped how my actions connect to environmental degradation and then lost that understanding, forgetting when it’s been convenient to forget. It’s hard work to remember all the time. It takes a force of will that most of us do not naturally possess. We would rather believe there is an easy solution that doesn’t require too much effort. I see so many band-aids, so much wishful thinking demonstrated in the popularity of “green” and “organic” products.

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image by Charlie Brewer

This is guest post by playwright, actress, and activist Sarah Moon, who is developing the play Current Changes in Empire, about mountaintop removal coal mining and the history of electricity, in collaboration with arts and activism organization Headwater Productions. A staged reading of the work-in-progress, directed by Steph Pistello, is being presented at Dixon Place today, September 16th. Visit http://www.dixonplace.org for more information. I saw this play a few months ago and was very much touched by its historical, rational, and personal take on Mountaintop Removal coal-mining. -ed.

My collaborator Steph Pistello and I decided we wanted to do a play on the subject of mountaintop removal coal mining in May of 2007 when our theatre company performed a series of short original pieces at two New York events organized by the Coalfield Delegation to the UN. When we got to the media action event at Daj Hammarskjold Park, just outside the UN, we saw the coalfield delegates gathered in front of large, color banners showing mountain top removal sites.

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Jessica and Tanny

Jessica’s work is a beautiful example of what we can do when we let go of what we think and trust ourselves and each other. The wider implications are worth thinking about—how can we each access that free, infinitely creative place inside ourselves to build a world that works? -ed

When I began teaching piano over twenty five years ago, I instinctively used improvisation to help my students develop their musical sensibility. The piano is a perfectly suited instrument for this kind of endeavor. Sitting side by side, I play a melodic accompaniment in the bass, creating a rhythmic field of sound, while encouraging the student to explore and experiment on the keyboard.

No music books are needed. Regardless of age or level of experience—it could be a 6 year-old having her first lesson—I have observed that almost everyone discovers an unexpected and unfamiliar freedom. This is the revelatory wonder of finding a new “voice”—a means of expression that is natural, and even beautiful.

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