way to listen. You don ' t listen with your cerebral cortex when you ' re lying down, so this whole realm in your imagination awakens. I found over the years that these SoundPlay workshops have been a great way to explore and prove this— that our posture, or the way we physically are when we ' re listening, makes a big difference. Lying down in the dark is the deepest; just lying down by itself is fine. Sitting on the floor is a very different posture than sitting in chairs. I finally realized that this may be because when we go to school at the age of six, usually for the next 16 years, we ' re sitting in chairs, in rows, watching and listening. We develop a certain modality of experiencing that has the pressure of, okay, don ' t get emotional. Don ' t express yourself. Don ' t be wrong. Get the right answer. Think about sitting on the floor, which we did when we were little kids, and that sort of beginner ' s mind comes back. It ' s a physical thing. So, please just listen rather than think your way through.
Anastasia: You’ ve got this album coming out, and your Flyways project. What else is keeping you busy?
Paul: The Charles Ives Show album is one thing. In 1974, at his 100th birthday, we did an event on the hillside at his home, 11 o ' clock on a Saturday morning in August called The Charles Ives Show with my ensemble and 10 other musicians. It was a very unique and spirited event, we recorded it, and the album was stopped by a publisher at that time and never came out. It’ s finally going to come out, and it’ s now grown into a larger project. It’ s a four-disc set. The first disc is of the event, and the three other discs are things that happened subsequently that are related to Ives. It will be out next spring, prior to the 250th anniversary of our country. Another album waiting in the wings is of Bach pieces that we recorded in the cathedral. The next is called Earth Child, which has been brewing for about 20 years. The idea is that the earth is a child of the sun and a child that we have a responsibility to take care of. It will feature a diversity of voices from the cultures and creatures of the earth.
Anastasia: Are you happy with how your career has evolved?
Paul: That’ s a great question. First of all, I ' ve never thought of it as a career. It ' s a calling. It ' s not something that I chose; it ' s something that chose me. As a career, I would think people would say, " This is no way to have a stable future, the music business." When I was growing up, nobody ever imagined a livelihood in music. You did something responsible, like law. I actually was registered in law school when my group won its recording contract with Columbia. I said,“ Oh, maybe I ' ll take a year off before law school.” I realized that I could do far more in cultural exchange with music than I ever could as an international lawyer in the world. I feel like I’ m the luckiest guy that has ever lived.
David: Do you think the music world understands what you ' re doing?
Paul: Very little. David: Why do you think that is?
Paul: They’ re all in different camps. The orchestral people are in their world, and
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