Sacred music is a ‘journey of the soul’
Boys’ Choir joins in recording, performing chants
By Sharon Kant-Rauch • DEMOCRAT faith editor • September 19, 2009
When Hal Month decided to record a CD of kirtan, a call-and-response chanting that started in India more than 500 years ago, he couldn’t get the sound right.
He tried recording it live when the Tallahassee group Om Sweet Om got together. Then he brought the most experienced members into the studio to sing.
But it just didn’t work.
When someone suggested he get The Boys’ Choir of Tallahassee to participate, Month was intrigued but a little intimidated. The choir had a national reputation; the director, Earle Lee, had even been on Oprah Winfrey’s show.
But Month asked anyway and Lee agreed to be part of the project.
“Initially, the kids were concerned because they didn’t understand the faith,” said Lee, who started the choir in 1995 for boys 8 to 18. “But as we got to know Hal and the others, we realized it was just yoga.
“This is the United States and people have different religions and faiths and we have to respect everyone. We were honored to do this.”
On Friday, Lakulish Yoga is sponsoring an evening of singing to benefit the choir and to celebrate the release of the CD called “Lakulish Love.”
“There is no prerequisite to attend,” said JoAnna Valentine, the owner of Lakulish Yoga. “All you have to have is a voice and sing along with the group.”
Valentine and Month said yoga is not a religion, per se. It’s a science of getting to know oneself and the kirtan chanting is just one aspect of it. Doing yoga postures is another. People of any faith can participate.
On the CD, several of the songs, one lasting up to 14 minutes, are sung in Sanskrit. The last two are in English — George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” and the song “Hallelujah,” which has the refrain: May all I say and may all I do be hallelujah.
Lee said the recording was hard work for the boys because they had to record over and over, occasionally in a room with no air-conditioning. But he was happy with the results.
“It was a whole different ballgame for us and a little out of our realm,” Lee said. “But it came out pretty good.”
Kirtan, like other forms of yoga, is geared toward getting participants to let go of the busyness of their lives, to stop the constant flow of chatter that is often going on in their minds. When a person chants a mantra over and over again, the mind relaxes and enters the moment. The result is often a feeling of happiness, relaxation and a connection with other people.
Valentine said American people may be more open to yoga than ever before. As a culture, we’ve become saturated with “things” but still feel dissatisfied, she said.
“It is a hunger that returns again and again after so many courses of actions we try,” she wrote in an e-mail. “We begin to realize that the ultimate journey of the soul is calling … this journey back home to God.”
Month, a rock ‘n’ roll musician, originally wanted to do the CD to help out the Om Sweet Om group. He was in the background, approaching it more from a technical point of view.
But after getting encouragement from Swami Ashutosh Muni, a teacher from India who visits Tallahassee about once a year, his commitment increased. He scrapped his original ideas and came up with the songs on the CD. The process has made him come out of his shell, he said, made him face his own fears.
His new connection with the Boys’ Choir is just one example of the benefits that came from following this sacred path of music.
The Boys’ Choir of Tallahassee is currently accepting new members. It’s free and no audition is required. For details, call 528-2403.