A retreat for amateur and professional musicians from around the world is coming to the University of Wyoming next week. The Whole Musician retreat helps musicians reconnect with the sense of wonder and creativity that they felt when they first began playing. Whole Musician team member Megan Lanz said to accomplish this, workshops focus on self-awareness.
“We do a lot of yoga and bodywork, to reconnect yourself with what are you actually doing, and how are you standing, and how that is affecting your production. We do a lot of mind work with anxiety or stage fright or nerves, or getting in your own way, or at least just figuring out basic goal setting.”
Lanz said the retreat’s communal atmosphere allows participants to help each other overcome musical challenges.
“We like to keep it very equal,” she said. “We [the faculty] perform with them as much as we can, but really more than anything it’s an environment where they will hopefully feel safe enough to open up and be like ‘yeah you know what I’ve had this problem and I’d really like to work on that.’ And then it’s good fodder for group discussion, because chances are when one person opens up that sort of issue someone else has been experiencing it as well.”
A few last-minute spots are still open for musicians interested in participating. The retreat will also host two public concerts at UW’s Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts; a Whole Musician faculty concert at 8 p.m. this Sunday, July 10 and a participant concert next Friday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m.