A Celebration of Sympathetic Strings

Part of the Festival of Sacred Music Series

Join us (in person or via webinar) for the second in a series of sacred music celebrations at Commonweal, presented in collaboration with long-time Commonweal friend Toby Symington, executive director of the Lloyd Symington Foundation and transpersonal astrologer. Held at the solstice and equinox, the concerts—and gatherings afterward—are designed to bring people together in a convivial setting around music which delights, inspires, and elevates the soul.

From Toby: Mariah Parker (piano, santur) and Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar) are longtime collaborators in Mariah’s multicultural band, the Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble, which smoothly blends jazz, Latin, and Hindustani influences. As composer, pianist, and a master of the santur, Mariah brings a joyful and upbeat presence to everything she does. She describes her improvisational style as “open-ended and heart-centered.” As the title of her most recent album, Windows Through Time, suggests, her pieces often reveal a contemplative dimension. For Mariah, music is an “unfolding journey into the eternal present. The concert will last 60 minutes; linger for pre-dinner snacks and community after the concert.

Mariah Parker

Mariah Parker has been playing music from the time she could reach the keys on the grand piano in her family home. As a composer, pianist, and bandleader, her work crosses cultural boundaries with an exuberant quest for defying musical labels or categorization. Her academic tenure at UC Santa Cruz was distinguished by her involvement with ethnomusicologist Fred Lieberman and the iconic drummer Mickey Hart on the “Planet Drum” project, marking her early foray into the fusion of musical traditions. Her discography began with the critically acclaimed Sangria in February 2009, followed by Indo Latin Jazz Live in Concert in 2017 and Windows Through Time in 2024. The last two albums have both enjoyed months of prominence on the National Jazzweek Airplay chart and been celebrated globally for their innovative soundscapes and compositional brilliance.

Matthew Montfort

Matthew Montfort is the leader of the innovative world fusion group Ancient Future, and a pioneer of the scalloped fretboard guitar, an instrument combining qualities of the South Indian vina and the steel string guitar. Montfort studied intensively with vina master K.S. Subramanian in order to apply the note-bending techniques to the guitar. In 2012, he was added to the 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists list, joining luminaries such as Michael Hedges, Chet Atkins, John Fahey, and John Renbourn. Matthew has recorded with legendary world music figures ranging from Bolivian panpipe master Gonzalo Vargas to tabla maestros Swapan Chaudhuri and Zakir Hussain. He has performed concerts worldwide, including the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra on the Golden Coast of Spain near Barcelona and the Mumbai Festival at the Gateway of India in Bombay.