“circleWe recommend that you do this experience with your eyes closed or open, but it’s definitely better with an open mind,” said Mark Coughlan, conductor of the En Coda Symphony Orchestra. He spoke as he settled into an hour-long sound healing session. . The man next to me chuckles.
On a sunny evening, 300 of us gathered at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, drawn by the promise of a meditative, moving and healing experience, to hear a performance by a group of three Perth-based instrumentalists. I attended a one-time concert. He will perform with an ensemble of 13 local string players.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the green lawn and clear skies. I can already feel my eyes relaxing and getting used to the novelty of looking at things in the middle and far distances instead of squinting at the screen.
Julien Silvern enters the gallery’s north hall playing his crystal didgeridoo. As he approaches the audience, he lifts his instrument and points it at the faces of those in the front row.
En Coda composer and vocalist Tenille Bentley joins in the Māori prayer as the string section takes up their bows and her powerful voice fills the room. January Kurtula, the group’s percussionist and vocalist, begins playing a half-gourd (a large drum made from a hollowed-out gourd) to an alternating beat.
I look around the room and see people with their eyes closed, a small child sitting on his mother’s lap.
In the next song, Bentley and Cultura sing together about the female spirit. Strings swirl and swell around the vocals, recalling the melancholic arpeggios of Philip Glass and Max Richter. When I hear this song, I think of the scene in the movie soundtrack where the main character stands on the beach and stares at the waves, her hair tousled by the wind.
The song continues, traversing themes of love, growth, and rebirth. The string section played the piece effortlessly, with quick fingers and deep frowns of concentration. Behind them, through the gallery windows, another world opens up. Flocks of birds fly from one side of the park to the other and back again. The white-gray sky turns pink.
I don’t think I’ve ever spent an hour doing nothing, sitting comfortably and listening to live music and watching the sun set in the sky. It turned out to be pretty good. Even if you relax. I also can’t remember the last time I went this long without checking my phone. Am I…healed?
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At the end of the concert, after the last low note of the didgeridoo, there is silence. The audience refrained from clapping, perhaps not wanting to break the spell.
After counting to 52, Bentley began speaking quietly. Like a yoga teacher tweets before sending you back into the real world.
“Then take a deep breath as you bring your awareness back to space,” she says. “Please bring all the love and peace that we have summoned into this room today. And with your next breath, place it in the center of Mother Earth.”
We breathe in and we breathe out.
“And we give love and peace to everyone around the world who needs it right now. We cultivate this vibrational, frequency, sensory essence and bring it to all who need it on Earth. It radiates to people.”
She thanks the musicians and the audience, who respond with thunderous applause, sending vibrations back to the Sound Healer.
