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Sheila Makes Music...
Inherently Collaborative//
Mutuality lies at the heart of my music, whether performing chamber music with my colleagues, rendering an inspiration as a solo improvisation, or in the process of discovery and development with my students. I have always been drawn to the spaces in between--whether between teacher/student, musician/music score, inspiration/exploration, or the relationship between musicians performing together. For example, when working with other musicians, how do we develop ourselves, our awareness and our craft then merge our understanding and awareness and musicianship to create a unified whole? This process of exploration, discovery, and--ultimately--of intimate engagement with the music and each other is ceaselessly satisfying and evolutionary!
Likewise the relationship between musician and audience. Certainly in live performance the audience is more than a collective of passive recipients of the music being performed. Ultimately, there is a unique gestalt created between performing artist and every audience, a sort of co-creation in the energetic exchange that happens. Isn't that beautiful?? Even in recorded music there is relationship....that is the power of music--to reach into the heart and soul and experience of both the musician allowing the music to flow through them and the listener taking that music into their being-ness. Music is always, therefore, an intimacy, a sort of holy mutuality of engagement and participation.
"From the first day I played with Sheila, I knew I had found someone special. She creates this collaborative energy that allows for effortless exploration and storytelling. With Sheila, it’s always about the story that unfolds in the music. It’s a rare collaborative experience to find."
~Linda Vogt: Violinist, Trio Indigo
"I was fortunate to hear Sheila's beautiful music while visiting her home.
I can never forget the experience she created during her late-night practice. She is an artist who invokes those beautiful energies even when she is not aware someone is noticing its presence. This is the real art."
~Chintan Upadhyay: Performing Artist/Vocalist & Teacher at Alembic Dhrupad Foundation in Gujarat, India
"Working with Sheila--she as Music Director and me as Pit Musician--in Musical Theater has been a pleasure and an honor. Sheila is the consummate professional, both in rehearsals and in performances. Anytime she requires my services as a musician, I will do it!"
~Gerry Reed, Bassist
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