I couldn’t hear very well the evening I sat in the clear sacred space of St. John’s Church, Bridgetown to experience the Anjali Orchestra blessing us with their first public performance. So I closed my eyes and and asked my heart to listen for me.
I was not surprised to find that my heart knew the words to almost every song, especially the songs that didn’t have words. And as I surrendered I allowed the music to take me on a journey through realms known and unknown, light and dark, both heavenly and rooted in the depths of mother earth.
The Anjali Orchestra is a group of gifted musicians who have come together to play meditative music both dynamic and tranquil, contemporary and traditional, using many different textures to explore new combinations of sounds such as African and Celtic harps, Indian ragas and Japanese zen flute. This is a truly postmodern experience in its fusion of diversity, but with the depth of spirituality rooted in tradition, sacrament and reverence for the Divine.
The music was outstanding, majestic, and sublime – just as I expected it would be, but in ways I could not have imagined. The audience sat in receptive rapture as it moved us, surprised us, soothed us, rattled us, and finally got us on our feet dancing in celebration of life. This music is of hope and transformation. This music is of grace and serenity.
This music weaves strands of stories of our shared and common history into prophetic visions of redemption and faith in the power of creativity and love.
Heather Mullin