MindTravel Live to Headphones ‘Silent’ Piano Concert on Santa Barbara’s West Beach

Imagine a piano instrumental playing softly in your ears while the ocean waves crash and the sun sets above the water. This is the immersive experience of MindTravel, a live-to-headphones “silent” piano experience. Murray Hidary founded MindTravel “to create transformational experiences using music.” The idea came to Hidary from his lifetime of playing classical music, studying classical composition, and eventually finding meditation in Eastern philosophy. He said, “For me, music became a meditation, and it was always a personal practice, what I did for myself. Then I decided to bring it out into the world.”

Hidary said that through MindTravel, thousands of attendees shared their personal experiences with him: “People moving through grief, people dealing with adversity in life, just all kinds of transitions and the milestones of life and music can really hold a space for the expression of that.”

On June 22 at Santa Barbara’s West Beach, Hidary performed a piano set for attendees listening through headphones. His piano sat in the middle of a garden of flowers and pink blossom trees placed on each side of him. Attendees each sought out to experience the evening in their own way, some sitting in beach chairs and others walking up and down the shoreline. While I opted to sit and write in my journal, others brought a volleyball to rally with or even played fetch with their dog. Each audience member had the liberty to experience the journey in any way they saw fit. 

Hidary’s playing along with the ocean scenery, an evening sky and the mountain range views produced a meditative experience. Listening to the piano through headphones was an idea that Hidary and his team experimented with 11 years ago. “We tried it out and at first you might think, ‘Oh you put headphones on, it’s like disconnecting in a way,’ but it actually brings you right into the moment. Suddenly everything becomes cinematic and becomes a soundtrack to life,” he said. 

With about 40 minutes left in the program, Hidary began softly reading poetry over the music taking brief intermissions in his speaking to allow for only instrumentals. My favorite phrase he read was, “To walk to a rhythm, to walk to a rhythm that matches the beating of something you forget was yours.” His poetry reading added even more to an already calming and enriching journey. At this point the sun fully set and most people were sitting or lying down, enjoying the last few minutes of Hidary’s set. 

Closing the evening with a quiet closing song, he finished the two-hour set and stood to address the crowd. People applauded while he expressed his gratitude and invited guests to come up and take a flower home, a token of the experience. 

MindTravel offers a variety of experiences across the country including virtual programs. RSVP for free to their virtual SilentWalk, a guided walking meditation. The :Silent” Piano experience will be back to Santa Barbara July 25. See details here.