On a cold afternoon at Heinz Memorial Chapel at the University of Pittsburgh, violinist Monique Mead joined 15 musicians and others who played 60 crystal bowls. The goal: Create an immersive experience.

More than 200 people showed up for Sunday’s sold-out event toting blankets and pillows for snuggling in the oak pews, sitting in the shadow of the soaring stained-glass windows and bathing in healing sound. It was a 90-minute reprieve from winter and a world gone crazy.

“Welcome to the mega sound bath, the largest in Pittsburgh,” Ms. Mead told the crowd, the lights turned down low. “This is not a concert; it’s not about us. It’s about you and your experience.”

For Ms. Mead, the healing began seven years earlier during her own dark night of the soul — a time of pain, loss and doubt. That was when Beethoven spoke to her… Post Gazette article

Peyton Groves was struggling to cope with the stress of medical school when she first moved to Oakland to attend the University of Pittsburgh.

“I grew up in California and I had a pretty hard transition coming to Pittsburgh,” Groves said. “I was kind of just looking for things to make me feel better.”

That’s when she came across a sound healing studio in Shadyside. She was intrigued. She was familiar with the idea of a “sound bath” but she didn’t expect the woman leading the session to be a world-renowned musician…

From February 1-8, 2025, I'll be at Rancho La Puerta directing the 8th Annual Chamber Music Festival, a week filled with extraordinary performances by some of the world's finest musicians. In this blog, I wrote about what makes this festival so special and why you might want to join me there! (If you're a first-timer, be sure to ask me about a special discount.)

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Lawrence McCullough for a feature in Next Pittsburgh. We chatted about the healing power of music, Leonard Bernstein's influence, student mental health, and how sound healing weaves into my musical life.