The Joy of Christmas Classics celebrates the Christmas time when days grow colder and nights, – longer. Just like we still do these days, people of ancient times lit candles and gathered round fires to lure back the sun. They brought out stores of food and enjoyed feasting and festivities. Dances were danced, and songs […]
Category: Composition
Lotus Dreams Airs on KCUR Night Tides
Thank you Renée Blanche, host of US radio program Night Tides, for featuring music from my latest album Lotus Dreams. Kansas City University Radio (KCUR) is the flagship National Public Radio (NPR) station in the Kansas City metropolitan area and a listener supported radio station that is part of the NPR network. To support their cause, you can […]
Lotus Dreams – The Album Released
Media Release (PDF) Lotus Dreams is the latest album from award-winning musician Christel Veraart. The lotus is a universal symbol of tranquility and renewal, its exquisite flower opening, petal by perfect petal, as it rises out of the muddy waters of its origins. In this album, Christel Veraart explores that theme through both eastern and […]
Shakuhachi – The Sound of the Soul
The shakuhachi is a testament to the elegance of traditional Japanese culture, and produces a sound that is said to replicate the full range of natural life on earth. I love the sound and meditative quality of this Japanese bamboo flute, and used it in Elegy for a Cherry Tree. In this song it complements […]
East West Fusion in Bamboo Mist
My latest album “Lotus Dreams” retains the meditative quality of my previous albums, exploring similar themes inspired by nature. I often use a mix of Eastern and Western instruments, but here the feel is distinctly Asian. In Bamboo Mist I explore a fusion of influences, a mix of instruments from around the globe that reflect my […]
Voices of the Rainforest
Rimba Kuna (old jungle) is one of two tracks (the other one is Jalak Bali) on “Lotus Dreams” that has strong South-East Asian influences. I used the Indonesian gamelan orchestra to give voice to the Indonesian rainforest, which is home to some of the world’s rarest animals and plants. An instrument with a sound and […]
Totem Speak to Me
Inspired by Chinese author Jiang Rong’s novel about the dying culture of the Mongols and the parallel extinction of the sacred Mongolian wolf, the music of Wolf Totem (previously released on the album “Polar Suite”) evokes shaman drums and chanting, perhaps voicing a plea for guidance from the animal spirit of the wolf. Listen to […]
