Michael Dale, pianist

G. I. Gurdjieff, a seminal spiritual figure of the last century, introduced to the West an ancient yet unknown esoteric teaching of how to creatively use the diverse impressions of ordinary life to come to real life. Seeking the wisdom of self-knowledge, being and understanding, he had traveled to Egypt, the Middle East, Central Asia, Tibet and India, witnessing and absorbing a diverse range of spiritual and folk music, dance and rituals.

In the 1920s Mr. Gurdjieff created a body of music that is the esoteric expression of the sacred. He was assisted by the Russian composer and pianist, Thomas de Hartmann, who said of Gurdjieff's music, "It helps to concentrate oneself, to bring oneself to an inner state when we can assume the greatest possible emanations."

Michael Dale is a composer-improviser and multi-instrumentalist residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. He performs regularly with many jazz and classical groups including New Keys and Death of Cool. Recently, he is featured on the recordings Sacred Music of the Eternal Present: Hymns and Prayers of G.I. Gurdjieff, and Perserverance, by the free-jazz group Sound Immersion. He is also a composer for film, having scored the award-winning short Milo's Wheels. He maintains a full studio of private students in the East Bay. He is a student of William Patrick Patterson, a leading exponent and teacher of Gurdjieff's Fourth Way.

Tickets: $12 in advance / $15 at door / $9 full-time students with ID
($5 may be applied toward the purchase of a CD, DVD or book)