This section is about faith and the activated
artistic experience... it is a work
in progress.
I am a devotee of Jesus Christ. People say, "So
are you a Christian?" To this I say, sure but that
label has little significance or often the wrong meaning
to me or many of the people I work and associate with,
for their association of what it is to be a Christian
may have nothing to do with my faith and reason to follow
Christ. This I have found consistent as I struggle with
my faith daily, striving to see the truth, my own folly
& what is reality beyond my own limited view and
experience.
What I do know is that for my experience of the profound
and life-altering love of Jesus Christ I am eternally
grateful!
Artistic Mission Statement
I have committed my life to creating performances that
ignite the heart of the listener and brings them into
a consciousness of their intimate sense of belonging
to the human race. As a performing artist/composer/ensemble
leader, artistic director & community activist,
I have for the past 15 years been working in professional
and community settings. With a sustained focus
on a vision of unity in our diversity, it is truly the
work the gives me purpose, inspiration and meaning.
Through an in depth study of world music including
North & South Indian, Persian, African, Brazilian,
Javanese, Balkan, Jazz & popular music styles and
the direct experience with artists
of the highest standard of excellence I have continually
found one thing to be true. The honest open heart
of a well skilled artist is what touches the audience
on the deepest level of their being. The opening
of ourselves to vulnerability in performance takes a
great deal of trust and strength. Ultimately,
this openness allows the divine element in, enabling
us as artists to be true vessels for something which
is much greater than themselves.
Through creative work, the intimate connection of community
between the stage and the audience is born. I
envision this connection as a sacred space or bridge
that removes a conceived obstacle ‘the perception
of separateness’. In the communal experience
of art, the individual is temporarily nullified as we
are removed from our ‘normal’ state of being,
allowing the listener (and ideally the performer also)
to leave their ego behind and join the experience.
Before I step on the stage I become silent and ask God
to work through me so that this sacred bridge
(space) would be created, present and apparent to all.
I believe that as any person is able to move their ego-self
out of the way, the opportunity for God to use them
as instruments is possible in the same the way we use
our physical bodies to play our musical instruments.
When this intimate connection is made there is no us
& them, no artist & listener, object &
subject… there is only the sense of unity
and a feeling of profoundly beautiful connectedness.
On the larger scale what this shows us is that even
in the world we need not view any human beings as others,
because they are not from our religion, nationality
or race. So is there any native & foreigner
in God’s eyes? Why talk about us & them?
Politically motivated divisions melt away when you realize
the absurdty of being ‘for us or against us’.
As artists we can and should believe in & have pride
in our cultural heritage but Nationalism is too often
a divider of people who beneath their skin are all the
same. To me this heresy, a distortion of truth.
As artists we can stand against divisive language, and
concealed xenophobia, which has run so rampant in our
own country and abroad.
Coming back to artistic experience… as
we look deeply within and experience this space of connectedness
in our work, we realize the interconnected nature of
all humans, the world and it’s resources, which
belongs to us all. Through this we realize every
step we take and every choice, has an effect in the
world around us. This lesson becomes more profound
when we experience art across cultures. Though
the diversity of traditions brings infinite patterns
of variation, change, even stark, radical juxtapositions
and possibilities of expression, the result regardless
of subject matter can always be a great sense of humanity
as one. Acknowledged, as so or not, this result
is more than just a symbolic gesture of peace &
unity but a dynamic force, which is cause for positive
change, and the transformation of the world.
By bringing artists of different traditions and backgrounds
together the truth of our unity becomes even more apparent
to ourselves… and as we work and continually
strive to push ourselves beyond the limits of our perceived
creative boundaries this truth is reflected to the world
around us as connection, inspiration and love.
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Photo by Jay Matsueda
Read interview
with Paul here by
Joe Woodward,
discussing music,
faith & activism
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