Yvonne's Original Anjali Image
The Anjali Orchestra is a new project. A beautiful and unique ensemble of eleven musicians weaving an intricate tapestry of sounds from around the world.
Detail of Kamakura Period Hanging Scroll Depicting Raigo of Amida and Twenty-Five Attendants
The music is bound together by our common interest in devotional practice. Our concerts have a meditative quality, although the music can by turns be either tranquil or dynamic, traditional or contemporary.
The orchestra is comprised of multi-instrumentalists who bring together a huge range of musical influences, particularly from world music, but including bluegrass, classical and jazz. Musical textures and songs explore new combinations of sounds such as African, Japanese and Celtic harps with Zen & Sufi flutes, Turkish saz and Arabian oud with ukelele, Indian ragas with trombone, electric bass and guitar.
The inspiration for the Anjali Orchestra arose from a 8th Century silk scroll painting that I saw many years ago hanging in a temple in Nara, the ancient capital of Japan. it depicted a Buddha seated on a cloud, descending from Heaven, surrounded by celestial musicians playing all manner of real and imagined instruments.
It was explained to me that this image, known as Amida Raigo was a depiction of Amida Buddha of the Pure Land, descending to Earth to receive dying souls … accompanied by heavenly music, fragrant scents and a shower of lotus petals. Since then I began to wonder what such music might sound like… thus the seed for this orchestra was sown….
Many years later, after meeting many musicians along the way, the orchestra was born at two amazing concerts in Totnes and Brighton in June 2010.
A sacred atmosphere of prayer, meditation and devotion is one of the key features of the Anjali Orchestra, and this is carried through every stage from initial explorations to final public performances. When the musicians gather to rehearse we do so with the shared intention of using meditation and devotional practice to attune to a deep silence within ourselves from which new music can emerge.
The end results however are just as likely to be infused with elements of joyful celebration as they are with moments of exquisite musical poise.
Anjali Orchestra clips
Read the Anjali Orchestra review by Heather Mullen »