This is an unusual email for you to receive from William and Juliet. This email is about a
concert in May Blue Pearl: A One World Oratorio
- live in London & streamed online - and
an online talk in March Sacred Music for a Human Spirituality
which you can join from £1
And we have a favour, can please help
by sharing this email with your musical friends
It is less than 3 months until the
World Premiere of a new choral piece on
14th May 2022 in London
Blue Pearl: A One World Oratorio
A Sacred Choral Work for the 21st Century
Scroll down for more details and tickets.
THE TALK
Blue Pearl: Sacred Music For A Human Spirituality
2 hour Talk with composer Steve Banks
Online on 31st March 6-8 p.m
NB You can pre-purchase the recording of the talk below
Who is it for?
This talk is for anyone with a personal or professional interest in the new ‘Integral’ understanding of spirituality, where spirituality is integrated with psychology, a ‘human’ spirituality. It is for music lovers, particularly if you love choral and ‘spiritual’ music, choir directors and people who sing in choirs, musicians and composers.
About the talk
We are at a time in society when a number of powerful cultural changes are together driving the emergence of a new understanding of spirituality which transcends individual traditions: a *human* spirituality. This new understanding began with the so-called ‘fourth wave’ of psychotherapies, which include the transpersonal dimensions of human experience. American philosopher-mystic-scientist Ken Wilber has taken the integration of psychology and spirituality to another level with his ground-breaking ‘Integral’ synthesis, ‘the spectrum of consciousness’.
In this seminar we will explore some of the key elements of this emerging new spirituality and how they are conveyed through music in ‘Blue Pearl: A One World Oratorio’, Steve Banks’s powerful, ground-breaking new choral work.
This is a unique opportunity to hear how a composer with a deep immersion in both psychology and spiritual practice has been inspired by the evolutionary edge of our cultural unfolding to create music which beautifully conveys emerging possibilities for humanity and for our relationship with the earth.
Steve will talk briefly about the cultural changes which are driving the emergence of the new human spirituality, and the key aspects of it which we will explore in this seminar, namely:
- a spiritual path rooted in a rational (as opposed to mythic) worldview;
- the answer to the fundamental spiritual question, ‘Who am I?’ (and ‘Who dies?’);
- what is ‘eternity’?
TICKETS are purchased for a self select fee – from £1. £20 is the recommended amount, which allows us to maintain inclusive professional training.
TO PRE-PURCHASE A RECORDING OF THIS TALK For £10 you can pre-purchase a recording of this talk. Click here to pre-purchase a recording
THE CONCERT
Music by Steve Banks.
A friend of William Ayot and Juliet Graysons’ – Steve Banks - has created Blue Pearl, which is a wonderful, inspiring new sacred choral work for the 21st century. This is a time when humanity needs to act ‘in concert’ as never before. This piece of music expresses and celebrates the unity of the earth and of humanity.
‘Blue Pearl’ is the earth seen from space: a fragile, precious, living planet.
Blue Pearl includes an extraordinary musical journey through the whole of evolution. It expresses a ‘human’ spirituality, which integrates the mystical heart common to the great spiritual traditions with modern science and psychology.
London Mozart Players
Excelsis Chamber Choir
Rob Lewis conductor
Angela Hicks soprano
Sarah Denbee mezzo-soprano
David de Winter tenor
Geoff Williams bass
“Blue Pearl evokes the full compass of human experience: from joy, humour and sexuality to the opening of our hearts in compassion, to the spiritual mystery we encounter in stillness and silence – a profound and moving celebration of our shared humanity.” – Rob Lewis, Musical Director, Excelsis
“An extraordinary work. The music is, by turns, witty, moving, exciting, and transporting.” – Julian Marshall, composer. ARCM, FHEA
LISTEN TO THE DEMO RECORDING
You can get an idea of Blue Pearl by listening to the demo recording at www.stevebanks.info where you can also read more about the piece and about composer Steve Banks.
PURCHASE CONCERT TICKETS: Click here to purchase
Tickets are now on sale for the Blue Pearl world premiere - Click here Tickets can be purchased for the in-person concert at St Giles' Cripplegate in London, or for the live stream + on demand (available for 7 days after the concert). In-person concert: £25, £15 low income, £10 under-16’s. Live stream with 7 days on demand viewing: £9, £5 under-16’s.
CAN YOU HELP?
Steve is working flat out on getting the word out so that those who will love hearing the Blue Pearl world premiere know that it’s happening. I would really appreciate any help you can give me in doing that. Groups that he is focusing on are:
- Choirs and people who sing in them – especially those that sing classical music with orchestras, but ones that sing acapella too; anywhere in the world.
- People who are concerned about the climate crisis, and believe music can play an important part in shifting our collective consciousness.
- People who are into Ken Wilber and the Integral model.
- People who are into Psychosynthesis, and transpersonal psychology in general.
- People who have been inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh, who passed away recently (his powerful poem, Call Me By My True Names, is one of the movements of Blue Pearl).
- People who are 'spiritual but not religious'.
Crowd funding
A crowd funding campaign has been launched on the Indiegogo platform:
https://igg.me/at/bluepearloratorio. It will run through to Easter Sunday, 17th April. As you will see on that page, there are various exciting and unique ‘perks’ to choose from in return for your support
.
ABOUT STEVE BANKS
As a violinist, drummer and singer, Steve Banks has performed classical, folk, and world music with ensembles as diverse as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Contemporary Chamber Orchestra and the Carnival Band. He trained in Psychosynthesis counselling, graduating in 2000, and going on to work as a counsellor and also applying Psychosynthesis in leadership development. He is deeply immersed in Ken Wilber’s ‘Integral’ theory and has presented many times at the Integral European Conference. He has practiced meditation in the Buddhist tradition (Theravada and Chan) on and off for over 30 years. 14th May 2022 will see a profound confluence of Steve’s musical and psycho-spiritual lives, with the world premiere of his inspiring, ground-breaking new choral work for our times, ‘Blue Pearl: A One World Oratorio’ in London and streamed live + on demand for 7 days.
Website | www.stevebanks.info
Facebook | Steve Banks, composer
Twitter | @BanksComposer
Instagram | stevebankscomposer
LinkedIn | Steve Banks
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