Image Credit: Fadi Kheir
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Imagine you go to a concert at the esteemed Carnegie Hall in New York. Instead of sitting in a chair, you are invited to make yourself comfortable on soft floor cushions or a yoga mat. Rather than being shushed, you are encouraged to connect with your neighbor. And at the moment when the first musical notes would normally sound, a host invites you to breathe in and out mindfully. Even the lighting is softer and warmer.
“We hung fabric to make the space more inviting and cozy,” says Sarah Johnson, director of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI). “Given everything that people are navigating in today’s world, we wanted to intentionally craft a communal musical experience to maximize the health benefits of attending a performance.”
Premiering earlier this month, Carnegie Hall’s ongoing series of 16 Well-Being Concerts isn’t only designed to entertain — it aims to deliver tangible health benefits. According to a sweeping 2019 World Health Organization report, making and listening to music is associated with reduced stress, anxiety and loneliness.
“We’re trying to really hold the space for the audience to have as fruitful of an experience as possible during the concert. It’s a really cool way to dig into the meaning of the content.” Credit: Fadi Kheir
When vocalist Sarah Elizabeth Charles starts singing the first tunes of “Conscious Mind,” some listeners close their eyes to focus on her crystal clear, soulful voice. “Love the world” is the refrain. Charles and her husband, pianist Jarrett Cherner, finished writing their album Tone during the pandemic. “Trying to cultivate loving kindness and mindfulness during these trying times,” Charles remembers. “And then sharing that loving kindness outward into the world. We could never have known at the time how well it would fit into this space now.”
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