New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


?>

 

INSIDE MUSIC: There’s Music in Everything!


By Rosemary Conte

originally published: 04/26/2017


Say I’m crazy, but my kitchen can opener whirrs to Bb and might change pitches with each new can. My Betty Crocker blender is a more independent and versatile player in that it whirrs in several keys. My Epson printer emits vocal tones and word phrases with each new document it prints. And don’t get me started on my auto windshield wipers which have kept me in the creative flow as well as the traffic flow through many long rides home from gigs.

Music has been my saving grace, the thread running through every aspect of my challenging life. I learned to reframe what might be scary, boring and annoying. We are all Powerful with a capitol P when we use the enormous potential of our minds. And the reframe, with or without music, along with creative visualizing is a multipurpose tool.

I’ll never forget a reframe I created in 1993, the year the Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield was the book to read for anyone big into a spiritual journey or just curious to find out what was it that could keep a book on the bestseller list for 165 weeks!

I was on a 300 mile, five-hour trip home to Matawan from Utica, NY. It rained all the way. Looking back, I’m fortunate I made it home alive, for I was hypnotized by the rain and the windshield wipers. Both spoke to me and managed my creative flow. During that non-stop trip I spontaneously “wrote” in my head an entire “Broadway” show with six songs based on Redfield’s book. It was “Celestine Prophecy the Musical.” The ideas just poured out of me as powerful as the driving rain; lyrics, melodies and storyline. I think an experience like that is called a miracle. (It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t good. It got me home!)

In no time, I was back in my driveway. It seemed like I was only on the road for an hour!  The unconscious mind is a funny thing. I’m a clinical hypnotist and I know that in a very relaxed state dramatic time distortion can occur. And people unknowingly, drive while hypnotized every day.  My conscious mind re-engaged as I turned off the engine, and the entire musical---book and songs were lost. That was my first and last composition for the musical theater! And it taught me to always carry a recording device to capture my ideas.




New Jersey Stage provides affordable advertising for the arts, click here for info



At the hospital recently, I took advantage of my knack for finding music in everything to keep me calm in the MRI tube. I had many MRIs in the past, so I knew what to expect. Focusing on making music would take me away from the close quarters and the clanging and banging of the machine. The technicians always offer headphones and your favorite music radio station, but I’ve learned the sound you’ll get is mostly static, and static is, to me, more upsetting than the noise of the machine.  Reframe to the rescue!

I closed my eyes and took myself to a music hall where a large salsa orchestra was playing. I was at the imaginary WBGO FM radio Latin Jazz Cruise. Listening to the clang and bang I found rhythm that would take me away from the reality that I was in an MRI tube for which I was too wide! As I recognized the repeating patterns of clangs and bangs, they became percussion instruments and exotic sounding drums and cymbals. As rhythms changed, my melodies changed. The tube was my playground for 35 minutes.

Composers and songwriters have always been inspired by sounds and sights in nature and experiences of everyday life. As for me, I feel a kinship with the great violinist Itzhak Perlman who found he could make music with his VitaMix blender. Enjoy here his video performance on blender filmed in his kitchen.





New Jersey Stage provides affordable advertising for the arts, click here for info


FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Frisson

Frisson Winds

Thursday, July 10, 2025 @ 7:30pm
The Morris Museum Back Deck
6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, NJ 07960
category: music


 

Candlelight

Candlelight Concert: Tribute to Queen and The Beatles

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Monmouth University - Pollak Theatre
400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch, NJ 07764
category: music


 

Damn

Damn The Torpedoes - The Music of Tom Petty

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Lizzie Rose Music Room
217 E. Main Street, Tuckerton, NJ 08087
category: music


 

There,

There, There (A Tribute to Radiohead)

Saturday, July 12, 2025 @ 8:00pm
Asbury Lanes
209 4th Avenue, Asbury Park, NJ 07712
category: music


 

Band

Band Infusion Musical Night by GG

Saturday, July 12, 2025 @ 7:00pm
New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC)
11 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: music


 



Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info





 

EVENT PREVIEWS

Borgata

Borgata Event Center presents KEM

(ATLANTIC CITY, NJ) -- Borgata Event Center presents KEM, known as Soul's Greatness, on Saturday, July 19, 2025 at 8:00pm. KEM's passion for music and the emotions he brings to life on stages worldwide have been a part of him since childhood, when he played the old piano at his grandfather's church.



Surflight

Surflight Theatre Education Program presents: Surflight Vacation Serenaders

(OCEAN COUNTY, NJ) -- Surflight Theatre is proud to debut the Surflight Vacation Serenaders as a brand new part of its Education Department for the Summer 2025 season. This group of young performers will sing, dance, and put you in a musical theatre trance!



Annual

Annual Jazz, Health and Food Truck Festival 2025 in Orange NJ

(ORANGE, NJ) -- Are you a fan of jazz music and delicious food? Then mark your calendars for Saturday, July 12, 2025, because the City of Orange NJ is hosting their annual Food Truck and Jazz Festival featuring Three Doctors Health Fare.



Strand

Strand Center for the Arts presents Chicago 9 – The Ultimate Tribute to Chicago

(LAKEWOOD, NJ) -- The iconic horns, unforgettable melodies, and powerful rhythms of Chicago come alive on Saturday, September 27, 2025 at 8:00pm, as Chicago 9 – Tribute to Chicago takes the stage at the Strand Center for the Arts in Lakewood. They are widely recognized as the premier Chicago tribute band in the country.



All-Bluegrass,

All-Bluegrass, All Night: Live at Albert Music Hall on July 12th

​​​​​​​(WARETOWN, NJ) -- On Saturday, July 12, 2025, Albert Music Hall will present an evening dedicated entirely to Bluegrass music. The event begins at 6:00pm and features six live performances, each offering a 30-minute set, showcasing both new and returning acts.