We are holding our annual partnership event with St James’s Piccadilly on 25 September from 1.45–3.30pm to celebrate the launch of Rev Dr June Boyce-Tillman’s new book Experiencing Music – Restoring the Spiritual: Music as Wellbeing.

The launch of Experiencing Music will explore the variety of ways that music can put us in touch with the spiritual. It is dedicated to making the musical experience accessible and understandable to people with and without musical expertise. It will include a variety of activities and discussion that will help participants to understand the place of music in their own lives and that of the wider cosmos.  This will enable those present to understand the relationship between music and spirituality and find ways to cross musical borders with understanding and respect. Rev Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James’s, will chair the session.

Rowan Williams has said: “This book is an astonishing achievement ….. Learning to sing is ….. connecting with the world we inhabit in a fresh and life-giving way. A deeply enriching study.”

June Boyce–Tillman is Professor of Applied Music and Artistic Convenor for the Centre for the Arts as Wellbeing at the University of Winchester, and Extraordinary Professor at North-West University, South Africa.

Venue: St James’s Piccadilly, 197 Picadilly, London W1J 9LL

We hope you can join us. The event will include refreshments, so please book by emailing petragriffiths@livingspirit.org.uk. Donations to the work of LivingSpirituality are welcome.

In an age of searching for meaning, music is often a place where people find hope and inspiration. The Tavener Centre for Music and Spirituality, directed by Revd Dr June Boyce-Tillman, will be a place where the links between spirituality and music can be examined – those established by the great world faiths and those made by people in their everyday lives. The Centre will produce writing and creative projects in this area and will attract people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.

The University of Winchester organised concerts in the Cathedral celebrating Sir John’s music, and an interview in 2005 in the Theatre Royal, Winchester in which he talked honestly and openly about the interplay between his own faith. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Winchester.

Sir John has given us a wonderful insight into interfaith dialogue. In 1997 he embraced the Orthodox faith where he was drawn to its traditions and mysticism. He stood clearly for religious tolerance throughout his work. He illustrated how to deal with intense suffering and he felt deeply for the suffering of the world. He saw the need to transubstantiate suffering through music in an artistic culture which saw fit to represent the most shocking and violent aspects of our culture in a raw untransformed state.

He stands as an icon for a view of artistic expression of a way of generating hope and transcendence. Our age owes him deep gratitude. The Centre celebrates this and wishes to bring together others who share this vision of music, spirituality and healing.

The Centre’s aims are:

• to mount a festival of Sir John Tavener’s music every three years in the Winchester area
• to explore the relationship between spirituality and music with particular reference to the great faiths
• to organise a conference on music and spirituality associated with the festival, leading to publications in this area
• to disseminate Sir John’s own understanding of the relationship between music and spirituality.

The Centre, led by June Boyce-Tillman in association with Lady Tavener, will work with the Tavener Foundation, Winchester Cathedral and Chester Music.

Revd Dr June Boyce-Tillman MBE FRSA FHEA is Professor of Applied Music at the University of Winchester, and is coordinator of LivingSpirituality’s Music and Spirituality Special Interest Area.

For the new Centre’s leaflet go to: www.livingspirit.org.uk/tavener_centre_leaflet.pdf.

For full information about the new Centre, email June.Boyce-Tillman@winchester.ac.uk.

Save the Date!

Tavener Centre event in Winchester: Nov 11th 2016 10.30-4.30. A day conference exploring the spiritual in music, its meaning and its place in contemporary life.