Transformation of Music and Musings

Cellist is an identity I have carried for most of my life. Acquired through a swap from violin to meet the needs of the collective back in the earliest moments of music.

One year later, choosing cello required me to abandon the piano, a decision I wish I’d never been asked to make, but one that I would repeat time and again if faced with this timeline factor.

Opportunity to see Yo-Yo Ma in my teenage years, declined out of angst I likely didn’t even recognize at the time.

Taking in the brilliance and story of Itzhak Perlman half a year earlier, it was a most welcome engagement to witness this icon of the bass clef in his element.

My impression from countless moments spent listening and watching through virtual media was endless joy, optimism, ebullience.

It was entirely surprising to experience the raw, honest assessment of the state of the world through the eyes of such a positive soul.

With repeated acknowledgment of the gifts of his own life, including timing, geographic arrival to this country, attentive parents and thoughtful teachers, that granted him the incredible opportunities he experienced to create the life he has lived and continues to live at 68 years of human age, he voiced deep concern at the state of our nation and world.

For our repeated declarations to “never forget” while we carry out the same atrocities over and over again.

To have taken aim for the moon more than half a century ago, leading to endless discovery and achievement, but somewhere along the way losing sight of humanity and the importance of connection.

He spoke of contracts – unwritten and often not upheld – those between us and ourselves, us and each other, us and society, us and the land – and how art and music are the way we will actually fulfill these contracts that are the health and healing of our world.

As I sat in the gorgeous surround of the Temple Theater, in my hometown, blocks from where I grew up and the birthplace of my musical journey and the passion in my soul to be part of the health and healing of our world, I found myself immersed in an incredible, transformative experience

A single chair, music stand, and basket were on stage in advance of his arrival

Opening notes introduced the song of First Nations People, honoring the truth of this land and the gifts of music that exist and extend across cultures, calling us into a sacred container with appreciation for the impact artistry can have in sharing story, sentiment, and speaking of truth

Next was the first Bach Cello Suite, which he has played (along with the other five) countless times all across the world in the most gorgeous settings, for sold out crowds and simply on his own, for the sake and celebration of the composition.

This piece is a rite of passage for cellists and the capacity to capture and evoke full range of emotion through each component, dancing between simple and complex combinations of notes, it is a grounding piece for its familiarity, consistency, variety and unassuming brilliance.

Feeling both stimulated by the narrative and settled by the music, it was the next sequence that began the unfolding of my heart and mind in connection with the experience transpiring on stage and expanding through the universe.

This concert took place at the end of a powerful cosmic timeline, spanning the lunar eclipse on September 17ththrough the solar eclipse on October 2nd, and my own life was infused with massive emotion, transformation and an incredible volume of unknowns.

As the notes of a familiar folk song filled the air, I found myself singing the lyrics in my head as my left hand marked out the notes on my arm rest. Light, inviting, reflective and full of appreciation, this segued into a deeper and darker tone of a spiritual, once again lyrics available in the ether and now the energy was that of longing, desperation, request for relief. A most interesting contrast and it was the third piece in this series that cracked my heart wide open. In what I would offer is one of the most beautiful compositions available for cello, integrated within and in this moment extracted from a brilliant symphony, it pulled in the sentiments of hope, yearning, and peace from the prior two pieces.

I had the opportunity to play this as part of a cello ensemble in May, and leaning into the rising melody supported by the gorgeous harmonies was my favorite moment in every rehearsal and at the performance, reflected with the same delight by my friend who attended my concert, voicing appreciation for this piece, and who, at this particular moment, was in their own place of transition.

Wisdom of the universe and divine timing are ever present and guiding us through – and as I considered this sequence – Simple Gifts – Nobody Knows (the Trouble I’ve Seen) – Going Home – it was so aligned with the experience I was having in my heart and I was called in to the request Yo-Yo Ma extended to the audience.

It is time for us to shoot a new shot – beyond the moon and into the galaxy of human connection – requiring massive collaboration as we work toward biological and spiritual equilibrium. To transform information into knowledge and, with love, carry that transformation even farther forward into wisdom – and it was music and the arts that would lead the way.

The power to connect, to span generations and geography, differences and discontent – there is a common language spoken through artistic creation that brings us together in a way nothing else can.

Floating between the energetic expansion developed by the words and notes Yo-Yo Ma offered, and the physicial presence in this chair, in the balcony of this theater that housed many experiences of my life, next to my daughter and mother, I was fully engaged in the experience.

As the proposal of Planetary Humanism was made, I felt the song of my heart resonate, with a lifelong call to be part of a cultural revolution grounded in love and humanity, bringing together all parts of me – physician, parent, athlete, writer, musician, coach – and contribute to the health of all things through the medium of collaboration.

This was it – and here was this person, iconized and idolized for his musical prowess, stepping into total humility with awareness of his platform and encouraging with appropriate urgency, a rising up and coming together of the collective.

He continued the concert with many more pieces spanning centuries of composition and noted the incredible capacity his brain held for the memorization of music, most effectively stored in the first two decades of life, and I considered how his brilliance had found a compatible channel for release, as he acknowledged that the curiosity of his mind from the earliest years of life was a lot for the adults around him to manage, and, thankfully, he was born into the right environment to nurture this.

My daughter leaned over to me and asked if I would ever be as good as him, and I quickly noted that this would be impossible, and reflected that he had played cello most of the day, most of the days, most of the years of his life. And as I pondered that, considered how this could be seen as obsessive, too much of one thing, and yet, because of the character of the activity and its impact on so many lives around the world over six decades, it is lauded and celebrated (rightfully so!) and also paused to think about all those minds, young and old, that are “a lot” for the people around them who do not have the necessary nurturing environment, and how their activities most of the day, most of the days, most of their lives, even perhaps entering into obsessive, are not received with the same appreciation and are not as supportive to their own success and sustainability.

And as I sit in a space of being “for the health of all things” particularly the mental and emotional health of my medical colleagues,  fellow single parents, children, teenagers, athletes, creatives, teachers, and so many in our world, I wonder how we might be overlooking at the earliest stages the simple gifts found within, waiting to be opened and celebrated, and how, in the right environment, they can become brilliant offerings that will uphold those unwritten societal contracts. How we fail to see and hear the troubles experienced by others (and often overlooked even in ourselves) and miss the opportunity to create connections that are critical to sustainable well-being. Of the importance of going home, and how this is not available for so many who have been displaced internally, externally, locally, globally, and, in short order, if we do not make major changes, will not exist for any of us.

The final piece was a duet, with accompaniment on piano (there’s that lost sister instrument for me!) prerecorded with a screen descending into the background displaying images from telescopes in our galaxy, illustrating the macro and micro scale of life, the interconnectedness and the sacred, with the cello part largely expressed in whole notes and open strings – reminding us that incredible beauty and intrigue exist within both the simple and complex compositions of science and art. A powerful call to action and closing of an epic evening.

In this season of change and on the cusp of major decisions that will impact our world for a generation, in honoring the invitation to follow the lead of indigenous culture to expand that view to seven in either direction and honoring of universal connection, I echo the call for massive collaboration toward planetary humanism, the acknowledgment of gifts within, simple and profound, with a call to shift perspective so we can know our troubles in order to clear away the barriers preventing vibrant expression of health and create the ability for all to safely return home.