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At Armstrong Redwoods State Park: Musicians on Johna Peterson's new CD, "My Whole House,"
(l-r) Cindy (viola da gamba); Piotr Synowiecki (flute); Johna Peterson, Helen Marie Gilsdorf (vocal harmony)
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Johna Peterson is a contemporary, contemplative musician, who has
released 3 albums.She is a multi-talented artist: A composer, singer,
guitarist, and mandolin player.
She resides in Sonoma County, CA, amidst the redwoods along the Russian River.
Johna is also a longtime Hospice nurse and Associate of the Sisters of Mercy.
Her music is a healing balm.
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| All photography on this side created by Michael Ecton of Sebastopol, California |
Many Mansions in "My Whole House"
(Adapted from an article that first appeared in “Mercy Connection,” the newsletter
of the Sisters of Mercy, Burlingame Regional Community)
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Music and medicine are Johna Peterson's ministries — she heals with her hands. She is a gifted singer, composer, guitarist and mandolin player whose new CD, “My Whole House,” has just been released.
“My Whole House” is a collection of 15 original contemplative songs. Lyrics of the songs have been adapted from scripture, the writings of the early mystics, or are Johna’s own lyrics. Johna is joined on the CD by Helen Marie Gilsdorf, RSM, who shines on vocal harmony, Cindy Kaye, RSM, a virtuoso on viola da gamba, and international flutist Piotr Synowiecki.
There are “many mansions” in "My Whole House.” Each song is a world of its own, with its own story.
The door to "My Whole House" opens with "Come Dance with Me,” which is based on the Sufi poetry of Hafiz. It was written for Dolores Nice upon her retirement as Burlingame Associates co-director. It's fitting as one of the first songs for the CD, as it leads you to "Dance with me into the light.”
The warm-hearted and energetic Johna celebrates her eighth year as a Mercy Associate this summer, in conjunction with the release of "My Whole House," which is her third release. Her first cassette, "When the Clear Night Comes," was produced in 1986. "Ten Thousand Mercies" was released in 1994.
Many of Johna's songs were composed at Mercy Burlingame. "In This Place of Silence" on her new CD recalls those places that have drawn her into deepened silence — Mercy Burlingame, Mercy Auburn and the Trappist monastery in Whitethorn:
"In this place of silence,
I will run to meet my God,
Open up the doors,
Surround my heart."
The Mercy charism of compassion shines throughout "My Whole House," as does Johna's love of spirituality. Her song, "And That is Why," is based on Hosea. A Hospice nurse at the Russian River north of San Francisco, she was visiting a dying woman who was a musician too; at the woman’s request, she picked up a guitar and began to sing the beginnings of this new song as they waited for the woman’s doctor to arrive. The woman listened intently and then began humming along. Its words beseech:
"And that is why I am going to lure her
Leading her out into the wilderness
And speak to her heart.”
The physician never arrived. “But as we sat there waiting, I was playing with the chords and completed the melody for the verses.” Johna still has her nurse’s notes for that visit — the woman’s name, her vital signs, and beneath that, a series of chords.
Her new CD contains nine new songs and a few rerecorded old favorites like "Late Have I Loved You,” “And God Will Bandage All Our Wounds” and "Like Some Icon."
It closes with a beautiful song based on the words of the mystic Julian of Norwich, which Johna wrote in June 2005 at Mercy Auburn:
"And all shall be well
And all shall be well
And all manner of things shall be well.”
All is indeed well in "My Whole House.”
All is indeed well in "My Whole House."
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