The Conscious Listening™ Method

Expanded Music Appreciation For Inquisitive Listeners 





Mindfulness/Breathwork +
Musical Complexities +
Creative Associations




At the core, it's a posture of open curiosity. Personal. Organic. Connecting with music, others, and ourselves.

At its broadest reach, it is mindfulness in the moment, while honoring past experiences, and extending reality into multiple possibilities.


It is multidimentional awareness through mind-body-emotions. 



It is a practice. The more you do it, the more you are able to hear.


In-Person Events


" Hsing-ay's Conscious Listening class is personal, intimate. It's not academic. Listening to music has become a new adventure! I have learned how to focus on each element, hearing its role in the composer’s creativity. I can bring more of myself into listening, feeling what resonates for me, what surprises, what fascinates. Our class has a great vibe. We’re invited to ask and share and compare experiences."  Dan Mausner, current participant

Online Café
Monthly Zoom. Click HERE for details.
Cost: Choose What You Pay Membership Levels

WHAT is included?
1. Online Café monthly, with Pre-Café music link if you like to listen ahead, and Post-Café summary afterwards. Online Holiday Social. Join me as often as you can!
2. Invitation to Members Events in Denver and New York City happen at various times. 

Café members are inquisitive and welcoming. They tend to make music, create art, write, teach, or build things in some way.


WHEN
Online Café is 4th Fridays, JANUARY - OCTOBER. 12NoonET/9amPT/10amMT/11amCT. 50 minute interactive presentation followed by 10 minute peer discussion.  Drop in as often as you can. For your first time, please RSVP 24 hours in advance so I can send out a link one day beforehand.  During NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, we will have an online Holiday Social to include all disciplines of art that members are creating. Membership is good for 12 months. Confirm your registration and date/time with theNutmegStudio@gmail.com.


Café Visitor Day-Pass: $10

*Suggested annual sponsorship is $250. Other options are $50, $100, $150, $1000.
*Your contribution makes possible the ongoing research, content preparation, coordination, and tech costs.
*Advance your creativity, social engagement, and multidimensional training, through my work to build a culture of listening.
*Basic membership is included for current studio clients.

Paypal.me/hsu2507
Venmo @HHpiano

Zello (Quickpay) to "Nutmeg Press" as First Name.
Email: thenutmegstudio@gmail.com.
Please confirm amount - non refundable.

Concept

Expanded Music Appreciation For Inquisitive Listeners 



With multiple points of entry,

Steinway Artist and former university faculty Hsing-ay Hsu will lead your listening to
connect deeply with the music,
find new ways to experience emotions,
and amplify your joy by sharing the moment with others.
Pieces range from Baroque to Modern, from solo to orchestral.

You will

Learn How to Listen and Engage Better through prompts, exercises, and discussion,
Practice asking questions,
Create multidimensional mental models,
Savor joy and beauty,
Make personal connections between music, others, and life,
Listen collectively & collaboratively with other Inquisitive listeners, Lifelong learners, Music teachers, Adult musicians....



How Conscious Listening benefits you


MIND

BODY

HEART

Hsing-ay's Unique Background

Steinway Artist Hsing-ay Hsu is focused on the art of "Conscious Listening" in concert music, through mind, breathwork, and emotions. She imagines a world in which we are connected to music, others, and ourselves. Created 15 years ago while she was on faculty at the University of Colorado, Ms. Hsu has given hundreds of workshops in partnership with the Yale China institute, the International Piano Keyboard Odyssiad Festival, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, piano teachers associations, Citi Bank, NY Adventure Club, and has created residencies with organizations including Klavierhaus NYC and Longmont Symphony Orchestra. She runs an online class for her Nutmeg Studio NYC, and in person class at the Kaufman Music Center NYC. 


Holding degrees from Juilliard and Yale, she folds in her performance experience as winner of numerous international and national prizes including the William Kappell International Piano Competition, US Presidential Scholar of the Arts, Gilmore Young Artist Award, and Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship. She has solo-ed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and as concerto soloist with dozens of orchestras. 


As an immigrant breaking down cultural and social barriers, and a performer who recovered from overuse injury, her unique evolution in building connections internally and externally fuels her passion as an educator and communicator. Her work is also influenced by dance studies with Schiff Dance Collective, Third Law, and Gallim; Thomas Hannah somatic studies; and Marc Brackett and Brené Brown's work on emotions. She is a Public Voices Op-Ed Fellow and Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow. 

A Welcoming Environment

Engaging with classical music is an ultimate multidimensional workout — when I am most conscious of being fully alive. We can train to improve listening skills and apply it beyond music to conscious living.

*This open-level workshop minimizes complex terms to create an encouraging, balanced environment. If there is something you don't understand, please ask in that moment.

*If you are completely new to classical music, please prepare in advance by attending a few concerts or watching my YouTubes to get familiar with the classical concert music sound world. 

*If you are advanced in music theory and want academic study, we can explore additional homework for you after class.

What People Are Saying - click HERE


"I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed YOU - and your course! How grateful I am that I have participated with you! You really are a delightful, engaging teacher!" - Lynn, counselor


"Conscious Listening™ is about how we relate to music, how it is meaningful and expressive to me. This week I NOTICED music on the street - all the other noise faded into the background." - K. , participant


"I love how you pull in different ideas, memories, stories, impressions, and layers of meaning."
-Loretta, a listener and a visual artist


"These are wonderful tools to offer your listeners, not only to enhance their experience of music but also to help them have an experience of themselves that is more vibrant and whole.

When you invite people to join you in taking time to breathe with mindfulness, you are helping them get back into their body, which also helps them be more receptive to experiencing music with more curiosity and wonder. And in turn, that helps them remember who they are in this deeper, more “whole” way. 

When you invite people to imagine a story line or to get in touch with a feeling that a particular piece of music evokes for them, you are giving them an opportunity to dwell for just a little while in that part of themselves that is deeper than just the pragmatic, “thinking” part. " - Robin, presenter


Spending time in your [webinars] helps me to be centered, intentional, and elegant. - Lilly, international business woman


Fascinating and engaging: creative programming, generous sharing of skills /colors /philosophic communications, all done with your unique & graceful style, always growing from your experiences, visionary performances; wow!!  - Tamara, concert pianist


"Thank you Hsing-ay. It's been marvelous! I feel refreshed after your lessons; I can't believe how much I've learned. I've been applying your teachings to my students and it is fascinating how even the very young are eager to pay attention to detail, and how fast they can learn from the very start to play 'meaningfully', no matter how simple the music is.  I feel motivated to practice and work on new pieces. Thanks!"   AN


“Thanks for a superb class!  You made it very interesting by your upbeat personality and obvious piano excellence… "  


"You helped rekindle my passion for teaching - thank you!  Your approach is helping me know how to put difficult concepts into words.  I also like how you ask questions and let people try to put their thoughts into words- it is one of the most effective ways of teaching."   


"You have a very thoughtful approach that has something for all levels of experience."


"I’m sure that lots of teachers will be referring to your handout when they return to their studios after this conference."


Partners:

Online Café, Colorado Music Festival, Denver School of the Arts, International Odyssiad Festival, DAMTA music teachers intensive.

FAQ's

"I'm rusty with musical terms. Will I fit in?"
Every registered participant gets a  list of terms, a 4 step worksheet, and a starter mood meter.  Study this  at your own pace before the  Live Webinar.


"Will everyone laugh at me if I don't know  my stuff?"
We are life-learners here - people who  will applaud you for taking the risk to show up! Success is showing up and participating.


"What if I can't hear all the musical details that everyone else is hearing?"
The expectation is not to  hear everything I show you, but to hear just one more detail than you were able to before.  Please  enjoy the journey and  take it easy.



LEVEL: While the quantity of formal experience is of no consequence, regular concert music listening habits are strongly recommended so that you will be comfortable enough in exploring personal connections to the music, recognizing emotions/character, breathing to the music, and trying out new ideas. There will be only 3-4 people in each breakout room so you can get to share with and know your colleagues. If you would like to ease into the breakout room conversation, you are always welcome to say "I'll pass for now" or just wait in the main room. 

WHERE: A quiet room, reliable WIFI, and a device with decent speakers/headphones.  Please keep your video, as this is a group think. 

HOW: Register for your interactive Zoom link by emailing TheNutmegStudio@gmail.com. You can get a membership below right now and choose the amount you can pay. Want to try it first before becoming a member? Please tell me about yourself and I will invite you to your first meetup as my personal guest.

WHY IS THIS BENEFICIAL? Steinway Artist and former University of Colorado faculty member Hsing-ay Hsu developed her Conscious Listening™ method to guide audience listening inside each composer’s unique language across the genres of classical/concert music. We use mostly classical piano excerpts, but you are encouraged to adapt the 4-step process to a broader canon. This approach is the culmination of a lifetime of performing, teaching, and connecting mind, body, and heart. Whether the listening is in a concert hall, in the practice room, or on stage while performing, we can connect our emotions and physicality to our analytical minds to unlock your innate musicality.

How do we grow musical intuition?

"Play is uncertainty with social engagement. It's a mobilization."
- Stephen W. Porges, professor of psychiatry and former clarinetist