I’m just back from the “Lie Down and Listen In the Dark” event at DePauw University, where I am the cello professor. Katya Kramer-Lapin (fantastic pianist) and I played the “Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus” from Messiaen’s Quatour pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time), and the Rachmaninoff cello sonata. We sat in the middle of the barely-lit stage of Kresge Auditorium in the Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts, surrounded by 25 or so college students, and a few professors and middle-aged friends, who were lying on sleeping bags or blankets. My ten-year-old student and his mother were the first to arrive.
It was a wonderful experience for me, which I’ll write more about soon. I wanted to get this up ASAP so anyone who was there and wants to share what it was like for them has a place to do so. Some comments may show up on the Facebook event page, too.
Eric Edberg 
I was lucky enough to be able to attend this concert. It was ethereal listening to the beauty of the piano and the cello rising up into the large open space of Kresge. Because the lights were dimmed, it was easy to lie back and just concentrate on listening. It felt like the purity of music was transcending past the normal barriers that we as musicians put up between performers and audience. There were no barriers left by the end of the concert and the general sigh of contentment that went throughout the listeners at the end of the performance was unanimous.
I loved every moment of it, and we need to do it AGAIN!!!
The music was absolutely amazing. Being in the dark made the notes feel tangible and it touched me in a different way than it normally would have. I like listening to music with my eyes closed for that very reason, but at most concerts that’s considered rather rude. It was nice to be able to do nothing but FEEL the music, instead of paying attention to what the performers were doing, the fidgeting person next to me, or other sounds and sights that distract from the music at other concerts.
I cried at least once during every piece, simply because the music resounded (no pun intended) so deeply in me. I could feel the emotions of the music so much more strongly than I normally did and that was an incredible experience. I really hope that this happens again. It was so powerfully emotional for me, definitely a release. Thank you, Dr. Edberg and Katya, for such a beautiful experience. It was unlike anything I’ve ever done.