Paul Winter ....

In early morning there’s a sense of timelessness and possibility.

When I’m awake in the darkness before dawn – as the birds begin to sing, and the Earth prepares for the Sun – I feel as if life is beginning again. There’s something magical about that virgin time, when we’re free of our habitual patterns and obligations. My dream of evoking this feeling in music was the original inspiration for Summer Solstice [ details & tickets ].

We begin playing in total darkness at 4:30 a.m. within the awesome space and acoustics of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. We embark on a continuous two-hour musical journey, with players stationed in distant corners or moving among the audience. Somewhere near the halfway point, listeners gradually realize that the Cathedral’s great stained-glass windows are beginning to illuminate. The light joins the sound to carry us into the first dawning of summer.

For living music, Paul Winter

One Show Only: June 20, 4:30am | 1047 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10025 (at 111th St. & Amsterdam Ave., Manhattan; near Columbia Univ.) | Click for travel tips to the Cathedral