A free concert, entitled “A New World of Peace,” will be performed from 7 to 9 p.m. on August 29 at The Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square, in Philadelphia. Sahadeva Torpy, the London-based musical director, shares his insights.

How did you embark on your latest concert series,
“A New World of Peace”?

I’ve directed many concerts over the years, but after the whole experience we’ve had with COVID-19, I had a kind of inspiration one morning to create something new, to share Sri Chinmoy’s vision of peace and hope for the world for these difficult times that we’re in.

Everyone is thinking about climate change and the wars going on, and there is so much mental anxiety. We are suffering from a lack of peace and also from a lack of oneness. We’re all connected from the Source where we come from—all human beings, animals, nature, everything. We need to reconnect and find this oneness.

Sri Chinmoy has such a beautiful vision of how we can progress and change the world for the better in so many different ways. A big part of that is each of us discovering who we are as a person, finding a way to release all the anxieties and problems and pressures, and going into another part of ourselves that has joy, beauty, happiness and peace, and bringing that forward.

In all his music and writings—he was so creatively prolific—Sri Chinmoy gave us the tools to change our lives and have a much more fulfilling human experience on this planet. This was my inspiration and I thought I would put this together as a concert—the music, as well as visuals with his amazing poetry, and some guided meditation—and hopefully inspire people and share it.

Why are you bringing this to Philadelphia?

We had our first tour in the UK and Ireland last November, and we had a very positive reaction from audiences. Now I am thrilled to bring the concert to Philadelphia. The Sri Chinmoy Centre has a small team that offers free meditation classes and events in Philly, and they invited us. Sri Chinmoy loved Philadelphia—he called it the “spiritual capital of America”. It’s such a significant place to bring people together for a transformative musical experience.

How would you describe Sri Chinmoy’s music, if people are not familiar with it? What makes it special for you?

His music is coming, from my understanding, from a very high source of creativity and consciousness. For me to describe it, I feel I could never do it justice, but it basically connects right to the core of your being. It allows you to calm your mind down and open your spiritual heart and allows your own divinity inside yourself to come forward. Music offers us that opportunity to feel a higher level of consciousness. I feel that Sri Chinmoy’s music is for everybody, absolutely everybody. I just have the opportunity to arrange it in my way, as he encouraged me to do.

We’re in talks with people about taking this on tour in other countries. That’s my hope and I feel Sri Chinmoy encouraging me from where he is. I feel like he is saying do this, share it, offer light, offer hope to the world. I feel really privileged to have this inspiration and I’m determined to go out there and offer something beautiful for people all around the world.

For free concert tickets, music samples, meditation workshops and more, visit www.NewWorldOfPeace.com or www.PhilaMeditation.org.