Jars of Clay

by Barry Bittman, MD
CEO - Yamaha Music & Wellness Institute

I began by asking, “Why does he play?” 

Referring to my photo of a street musician, an elderly soul wearing a green and orange faux coonskin hat playing his fiddle on a Dublin street, I challenged them for a response.  It wasn’t about money, they concluded.

Their intensity of focus that day was inspiring.  The degree to which they connected with the presentation in the black box theater augmented the flow state that I was experiencing as the presenter.

At times it was difficult to imagine that a few hundred high school students could uniformly maintain such an unwavering union with a topic that challenged their preconceived notions of thinking outside the box. 

On one level, it was a lecture.  Yet on another, it was a testimony to each student’s phenomenal potential for applying their creativity in a unique way to positively transform society.

“If you could see yourself through my eyes, it would become immediately apparent that each of you can change the world,” I remarked.  “You might be led to believe that mastering your art is the end point.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Your music is simply a tool that will enable you to realize and carry out your greater purpose in life.  It is simply a means of getting from here to there.”

The topic that morning was part of a unique multi-faceted, technologically enhanced presentation/performance series entitled, Creative Musical Expression, offered by the Yamaha Music & Wellness Institute.  The setting was the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center located on the outskirts of Pittsburgh.  The school is one of the most remarkable educational centers in the world where the latest state-of-the-art technology is matched by a robust faculty-wide, unyielding commitment to inspire each student to succeed through a caring mind, body, spirit approach. 

As I advanced through key facets of creative expression explored in the context of decision, foundation, process and evaluation, not the slightest bit of stirring detracted from their absorption and assimilation of the concepts.

“While I could go on for the rest of the day, you certainly deserve more,” I said.  “Let’s shift our attention to a real-life example.”  Such was immediately the case as the screen came to life with  a video of six band members singing a spiritual tune (acappella) in a village thousands of miles away.  What followed was a poignant clip of them singing and dancing with African children. 

As that scene faded, the familiar album cover, Jars of Clay Greatest Hits filled the screen.  I spoke about the Grammy award winning band’s spiritual commitment to their project, Blood:Water Mission, that raised funds through their concerts to provide more than 615 fresh water wells for the African people.  The importance of their mission immediately struck a chord as each of us fully realized it wasn’t just about their music.  They were realizing a higher purpose.

Not surprisingly, the students were frankly mesmerized… then shocked.

For on the screen, live from our Nashville Yamaha Artist Services center was Dan Haseltine, Jars of Clay lead singer and composer— the real-life example I had promised.  Dan took time from his busy schedule to work with me that morning to address the students.  He responded to their questions and spoke to them directly, on their level, in a down-to-earth manner with an awe-inspiring sense of reverence and respect.  They responded with a level of enthusiasm and intensity that manifested in a collective melding of hearts and minds.  The educational inspirational opportunity seemed nothing less than magical. 

Yet even the real-time video conference style interchange was soon to be transformed to an even higher level, as the students witnessed what was never anticipated.

I asked Dan to play. 

Yet rather than just interacting with him on the screen, the grand piano (Disklavier) on the stage suddenly came to life.  Using an incredible technological breakthrough, Dan was actually playing for us in real time on that remarkable instrument.  The heart and soul of his creative expression touched each of us deeply that morning in a manner that would never have seemed possible.

After an intense ovation and Dan’s focused responses to a few more questions, I challenged the students to step further outside the box.  “Is there a student in this theater who is willing to share his or her creative expression with our composer/performer in Nashville?  Is there someone willing to play for Dan?”

Within moments all eyes shifted to a young man sitting near the aisle.  He immediately stepped forward and sat down on the piano bench.  Without the slightest hesitation, Alexander Castille, a junior, proceeded to play a wonderful composition that was later described as a conscious transformation of emotional state.  Each of us including Dan, who had experienced the performance live in Nashville, appreciated and applauded the extraordinarily creative performance.

When I asked the young man if he had ever expected to arrive at school this morning to play his composition for a world-renowned Grammy award-winning artist in Nashville, he seemed stunned and without words.  That shared sentiment set the tone for an unforgettable experience that wasn’t destined to end despite my concluding remarks.

The students finally made their statement clear— they were not about to leave!

For the next half hour, they gathered around the Disklavier, passed around Dan’s Grammy (he refuses to let it rest on his mantle) and expanded their curiosity with seemingly endless questions, each of which Dan patiently answered. 

The indelible connection he established with our students that morning is perhaps best described by an incident that occurred as a young woman was leaving the theater.  As she approached to thank me, it was apparent there were tears in her eyes.  She explained that she was embarrassed and could not stop crying.  I asked her to explain.  She looked into my eyes, and in a broken voice responded, “Dr. Bittman, this was the best day I ever had in school… I am so happy!”

Special thanks is extended to the Yamaha Music & Wellness Institute; Yamaha Artist Services in Nashville; George Litterst, inventor of TimeWarp Technologies’ Internet MIDI software that enabled the real-time Disklavier interaction; Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center’s Stephen Catanzarite, Managing Director and Sal Aloe, Director of Special Projects and Partnerships; and of course, Jars of Clay lead, Dan Haseltine whose heartfelt music and spirituality shows all of us that realizing one’s sense of meaning and purpose can positively transform the world.  To donate to Blood:Water Mission, please proceed to: http://www.bloodwatermission.com.  To learn more about Jars of Clay, Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center and the Yamaha Music & Wellness Institute, consider visiting: http://www.jarsofclay.com; http://www.lppac.org; and http://yamahainstitute.org.