MARINA DEL REY, Calif. – When composer Murray Hidary's little sister died in a sudden and tragic accident, he he turned to music to deal with the grief.
"Just by sitting and playing with such focus and concentration and flow, I was able to just feel amazing through it, I was able to process emotions through it. If I was going through a tough time, I just kind of played it out of me," Hidary said. "I would sit every day at the piano and just play whatever I was feeling."
He experienced how powerful music was in helping to get him through that difficult time. So he wanted to share that with others to help them move through their suffering.
"Music can really step in when words start to fail," Hidary said.
So he came up with MindTravel.
It's an hour-long healing musical journey where people listen to him play with uninterrupted improvisation, just one continuous note to the next.
"The whole idea here is that we're using the music to go deep within. We want to open up emotionally, we want to open up on many different levels," Hidary said.
It started in his living room, where he was moved by how people would experience breakthroughs. So he took MindTravel to venues all over the world.
Then he took MindTravel into nature, starting at Santa Monica Beach, playing his electric piano and giving the audience wireless headphones.
"A deeply intimate and personal experience, like just for you, and you look around and see hundreds of other people having a deeply personal experience, together," he said.
He took it a step further, taking people on silent hikes and walks.
Back in March, he was on a 70-city tour, when coronavirus struck, cutting it short.
He pivoted and did something he never dreamed of in taking this in-person experience virtual.
It's turned out to be positive.
"Thinking about this global audience coming together in this time and space, sharing and connecting, I can't even believe how deeply it's affected me," Hidary said.
As we're all going through this unique and challenging time, Hidary is hoping MindTravel can offer a sense of relief.
"Feeling less alone and feeling that illusion of separation being just that, and getting that we're all going through this together, and we're in solidarity, and the music is binding us," he said. "Feeling less alone and feeling that illusion of separation being just that, and getting that we're all going through this together, and we're in solidarity, and the music is binding us," he said.
