FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sara Sgarlat , Publicity Director
434.296.2772, ext. 49
ssgarlat@hrpub.com

The Material Girl Transcends the Material World
(Or How To Rock Your Soul—Forever)
    

 “Music and Soul is a breakthrough work that weaves the powers of music with the potentials of consciousness. Kurt Leland’s visionary contribution brings the art of great music to the magical inner journey of transcendence.”
—Don Campbell, author of The Mozart Effect

     Transcendent Musical Experiences. We have all had them, at different times, in different places: at a concert hall during a live performance, in the living room listening to a CD, or in the car with the windows up and the speakers at full blast. These are all peak listening experiences that, for a moment, take us completely out of ourselves into a higher, ecstatic, transcendent plane. They can result in sudden realizations or in spontaneous insights into one’s life—the universe—or even God.

     In Music and the Soul, A Listener’s Guide to Achieving Transcendent Musical Experiences author, musician, and composer Kurt Leland explores the importance of these experiences, teaching us how they not only contribute to our sense of well-being but how they can also transform us into something greater than we are.

     Starting with what he calls ‘the yoga of listening’—“exposing ourselves to the widest range of music along the  continuum of human potential in the most receptive meditative way”— Leland takes the listener through eight ‘centers’ of music appreciation that include the music of  arousal, desire, intensity, expression, well being, command, expanded consciousness, and finally, cosmic consciousness. His soul and chakra-based music appreciation program will show you why you are drawn to certain music and it will teach you how to listen to your favorite music in a focused meditative way, so that you can achieve Transcendent Musical Experiences of your own.  Along the way he discusses the music of Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, the Beatles, Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Ärvo Pärt and yes, even Madonna, to just name a few.

     Concluding with what he considers the most spiritual and transcendent music of mystic proportions—including works of Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Scriabin, Messiaen, and Wagner—Leland shows how the ‘yoga of listening’, can help you achieve Transcendent Musical Experiences, changing your life forever. Whether you are an avid listener, performer, or composer, if your goal is to transform your life, then Music and the Soul will show you the way.

January 2005, Music • ISBN 1-57174-367-7 • Trade paper • $16.95