Mega Surround Sound Bath

Monique Mead brings her Mega Surround Sound Bath to Heinz Memorial Chapel on Sunday, October 25, from 3 PM to 4:30 PM. It's a return to the chapel by popular demand, and the scale of it is a bit different from your average sound bath: Mead will lead 30 professional musicians and sound practitioners, with more than 80 singing bowls, violin, harp, and flute all going at once. The session also features the world premiere of Nancy Galbraith's Sound Bath 8, described as the first work composed for singing bowls, violin, harp, and synthesizer.

If you've never been to one of Mead's sessions, the setup is pretty specific. You're invited to stretch out on a pew and gaze up at the chapel's stained glass windows while the sound washes over you. The goal is to let the healing sounds guide you into a space of timeless presence, and having the stained glass above you gives the whole thing a particular kind of stillness.

Mead builds her immersive sound-healing sessions on crystal singing bowls, gongs, and live violin, and she draws on neuroscience and deep musical knowledge to shape them. Her work has appeared on the front page of the Post Gazette, NPR, CBS Pittsburgh, and Next Pittsburgh. She also offers practitioner training for people who want to facilitate sound baths themselves, and she gives presentations on the role of sound in mental health, drawing on research from Carnegie Mellon University and EEG-based collaborations with the Carnegie Mellon Neuroscience Institute. The chapel is on the University of Pittsburgh campus and is open to all faiths and backgrounds.

Tickets are free for Pitt students, $15 for Pitt faculty and staff, and $25 for general admission, with pre-registration required. The session runs from 3 PM to 4:30 PM on Sunday, October 25, at Heinz Memorial Chapel.