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How can we improvise even better together?

Joining in the musical improvisation at our Mmmwhah! gatherings is one of the most challenging and delightful and rewarding and confusticating and fear/judgement-inducing elements of our events: It can be one of the quickest paths back to the mind and away from the mind-ful in-the-moment state we seek for all the music, movement, and art-making in Mmmwhah!  And it can be one of the most heavenly.
       So we've asked Mark Miller to help design and lead this series for us.  He is not only "one of the best musical improvisers on this planet," as Bill McCrossen says, but can also teach it - not always an easy thing to do. 

     Come play specifically in this sandbox with some of the region's most dedicated students on this path, those who have taken it to the level of "professional" over decades of study. Open to any level from novice to professional musicians. We all have more to learn in this arena.
     Playshop limited to 15 participants, so please RSVP ASAP above. And while we're throwing out acronyms, this playshop will follow the WPFPP approach: Words, Practice, Feedback, Practice, Play.

Note: This workshop is highly encouraged for prospective members of the Mmmwhah! Ensemble.

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Being Together: Mindfulness and the Practice of Musical Improvisation

A 3-session Workshop Series 

with Mark Miller and Mmmwhah!

Improvisation is a form of musical exploration and discovery. What we explore, and what we work with in improvisation, is our lived experience. Improvisation is also a way to share our experience with others. Our goal is to be present in body, heart and mind, and to be unafraid of who we are in community.

 

In this hands-on workshop, we will explore the connection of mindfulness practice and the creative process.

·         Session I | Feb 18:  We will investigate our individual creative resources- our sense perceptions, emotions, and imagination- and how we utilize these resources to make music.

·         Session II | March 4:  We will focus on community- how our individual creative process can expand to incorporate and support others in making music together.

·         Session III | March 18: We will reflect on what we’ve learned, on what works, and on what needs work.

All levels of experience are welcome, from beginning to advanced.

 

Limited to 15 participants only, so please Register now via the link above.

Full series: $150

First session only: $75  (On a space available basis. Precedence will be given to those who sign up for the full series)

Time: 2-5pm

Location: Chuck Ceraso Gallery & Studio, 1294 Doric Dr., Lafayette

 

 

Mark Miller plays saxophone, flute and shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo flute historically associated with Zen Buddhism. He has performed and recorded with a wide variety of improvising artists including Art Lande, Tuck and Patti, David Darling, Paul McCandless, Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai, Tibetan flutist Nawang Khechog, and poets Anne Waldman and Allen Ginsberg. His recordings with pianist Art Lande include two albums of improvised duets and World Without Cars, named a “top ten album of the year” by Cadence Magazine. He has recorded eight albums with pianist Peter Kater, including Illumination, nominated for a Grammy Award in 2013.

     Mark has presented on mindfulness, music and improvisation for the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education, the International Society for Improvised Music, University of Michigan, San Francisco State University, and Virginia Tech University Schools of Engineering and Music, among others. Mark holds an M.F.A. degree in jazz performance from California Institute of the Arts and is currently Chair of the Music Program and a core professor in Naropa University’s School of the Arts.