Sanctuary Session: Simon Drew, Cole Sainburg & Dani Ekbote

An intimate gathering of improvised music, poetry, stillness, and deep listening at The Sanctuary Studio.

Sanctuary Sessions is an ongoing series of intimate gatherings hosted by musician, poet, and Sanctuary Studio founder Simon Drew.

Part concert, part sound bath, part open meditation, each session brings together a different group of musicians to explore a largely improvised landscape of sound. Drawing from Eastern and Western musical traditions, these gatherings may feature bansuri, shakuhachi, didgeridoo, piano, bass, tablas, bodhrán, voice, brass, percussion, and other instruments.

Poetry and original music often find their way into the sessions, woven between moments of improvisation and stillness. Words may lead into music; music may give way to poetry or silence. The form is deliberately open, allowing each gathering to become whatever the moment calls for.

The music comes from a devotional place: less a performance to be watched than a space to enter. The invitation is simple: come and drop into the space and the sound.

Sit on a chair or settle onto a rug. Meditate. Pray. Listen. Journal. Lie down and close your eyes. There is no prescribed way to experience a Sanctuary Session.

We’ll light a candle, allow the room to become still, and the music will begin.

Through music, poetry, improvisation, silence, and deep listening, we follow wherever the moment leads. Each Sanctuary Session is unique, shaped by the people in the room, the instruments at hand, and the moment in which it is created.

Musicians for this Session:

Simon Drew — Bansuri, Didgeridoo, Trumpet
Cole Sainburg — Shakuhachi, Bass
Dani Ekbote — Tablas