Life In Balance
Encyclopedia
Life in Balance is an American musical duo, consisting of Ami Sciulli and Steve Sciulli, formed in 1996. Their music incorporates instruments and styles associated with sacred music from numerous cultures. The husband and wife team has a national audience garnered through extensive touring and syndicated radio play.
Ami Sciulli plays chakra
-tuned quartz
crystal singing bowl
s and percussion, while Steve Sciulli plays enhanced Japanese shakuhachi
, Indian bansuri
,and concert flute
s. They have performed with Jim Donovan
of Rusted Root
.
Life in Balance was featured in the "Living Room Concert" series on the NPR
program, Echoes
, hosted by John Diliberto
.
The duo has performed at theaters and concert halls, including the O'Reilly
and Buskirk-Chumley Theaters. They have also appeared at art and music festivals, The Andy Warhol and Carnegie Museums, planetarium
s, conservatories, Botanical Gardens, spa
s and churches throughout the United States.
Life in Balance has also performed with authors such as Deepak Chopra
, Robert Thurman
, Lee Carroll
. Musicians they have performed with include Robert Rich
, Rusted Root, Dharma Bums, and Krishna Das
.
The duo has composed theme and background music for dance groups, and written music for meditation and healing.
at age 10, and began playing flute at age 14. He was a founding member of the Celtic rock
band Ploughman’s Lunch. Steve has composed and recorded music for theater, dance, and performance art groups. He has organized musical events throughout the Western Pennsylvania
region.
Musicians that he has recorded with, includes: Paddy Keenan
of the Bothy Band
, Philip Chevon of The Pogues
, and Pat Kilbride of the Battlefield Band
.
and holistic health since 1987.
Ami Sciulli plays chakra
Chakra
Chakra is a concept originating in Hindu texts, featured in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for "wheel" or "turning" .Chakra is a concept referring to wheel-like vortices...
-tuned quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
crystal singing bowl
Singing bowl
Singing bowls are a type of bell, specifically classified as a standing bell. Rather than hanging inverted or attached to a handle, singing bowls sit with the bottom surface resting...
s and percussion, while Steve Sciulli plays enhanced Japanese shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
, Indian bansuri
Bansuri
The bansuri is a transverse alto flute of Bangladesh, India and Nepal made from a single hollow shaft of bamboo with six or seven finger holes. An ancient musical instrument associated with cowherds and the pastoral tradition, it is intimately linked to the love story of Krishna and Radha, and is...
,and concert flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s. They have performed with Jim Donovan
Jim Donovan (musician)
Jim Donovan is a professional drummer and percussionist, a recording artist, writer, teacher and lecturer. He is best known as the drummer and one of the founding members of the band Rusted Root. He plays both standard drum kit and African hand drums such as the djembe, ashiko and talking drum...
of Rusted Root
Rusted Root
Rusted Root is a band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania known for their unique fusion of acoustic, rock, world and other styles of music, with a strong percussion section that draws from African, Latin American, Native American, and Indian influences...
.
Life in Balance was featured in the "Living Room Concert" series on the NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
program, Echoes
Echoes (radio program)
Echoes is a daily two-hour music radio program hosted by John Diliberto featuring a soundscape of ambient, space, electronica, and New Age music. The program features in-depth artist interviews and intimate "living room" performances. Interview subjects have included Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel,...
, hosted by John Diliberto
John Diliberto
John Diliberto is an award-winning radio producer, music writer, and host of Echoes, a radio program on Public Radio International featuring ambient, downtempo music "soundscapes"....
.
The duo has performed at theaters and concert halls, including the O'Reilly
O'Reilly Theater
The O'Reilly Theater is a 650-seat theater building, opened on December 11, 1999, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Located at 621 Penn Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh's Cultural District, the O'Reilly Theater is actually a three-part building: The theater , a large parking garage called Theater Square,...
and Buskirk-Chumley Theaters. They have also appeared at art and music festivals, The Andy Warhol and Carnegie Museums, planetarium
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
s, conservatories, Botanical Gardens, spa
Destination spa
A destination spa is a short term residential/lodging facility with the primary purpose of providing individual services for spa-goers to develop healthy habits. Historically many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or sources of mineral waters...
s and churches throughout the United States.
Life in Balance has also performed with authors such as Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra is an Indian medical doctor, public speaker, and writer on subjects such as spirituality, Ayurveda and mind-body medicine. Chopra began his career as an endocrinologist and later shifted his focus to alternative medicine. Chopra now runs his own medical center, with a focus on...
, Robert Thurman
Robert Thurman
Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman is an influential and prolific American Buddhist writer and academic who has authored, edited or translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism. He is the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, holding the first endowed chair...
, Lee Carroll
Lee Carroll
Lee Carroll is an American channeller, speaker and author.Originally an audio engineer, Carroll claims that he began to channel communication with an entity from a higher dimension called Kryon in 1989...
. Musicians they have performed with include Robert Rich
Robert Rich (musician)
Robert Rich is an ambient musician and composer based in California, United States. With a discography spanning over 30 years, he is widely regarded as a figure whose sound has greatly influenced today's ambient, New Age, and even IDM music.-Early life:At an early age he thought he disliked music...
, Rusted Root, Dharma Bums, and Krishna Das
Krishna Das
Krishna Das is a U.S. vocalist known for his performances of Indian devotional music called kirtan . With eight albums released since 1996, Das is perhaps the best known U.S...
.
The duo has composed theme and background music for dance groups, and written music for meditation and healing.
Discography
- Remember Who You Are (1998)
- Pulse: Life In Balance, with Jim Donovan (2000)
- Deeper (2000)
- Star (electronic sounds and quartz crystal bowls) (2004)
- OM to OHM, Koch RecordsKoch RecordsE1 Music , the primary subsidiary of E1 Entertainment LP, is the largest independent record label in the United States. It is also distributed by the Universal Music Group in Europe under the name E1 Universal...
(2007) - Crystal Bowl Meditation: A Vibratory Journey into Deep Meditative States, part of the Theta Meditation Series, Sounds TrueSounds TrueSounds True is a multimedia publishing company based near Boulder, Colorado. It was created in 1985 by Tami Simon. The company has published approximately 1,000 titles, including spoken-word audio recordings, books, music, filmed events, multimedia packages and online educational programs from...
/The Relaxation Company (2008)
Steve Sciulli
Steve built his first synthesizerSynthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
at age 10, and began playing flute at age 14. He was a founding member of the Celtic rock
Celtic rock
Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock and a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context...
band Ploughman’s Lunch. Steve has composed and recorded music for theater, dance, and performance art groups. He has organized musical events throughout the Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie, Altoona, and Johnstown are its...
region.
Musicians that he has recorded with, includes: Paddy Keenan
Paddy Keenan
Paddy Keenan is an Irish player of the uilleann pipes who first gained fame as a founding member of The Bothy Band. Since that group's dissolution in the late 1970s, Keenan has released a number of solo and collaborative recordings, and continues to tour both as a soloist, and with...
of the Bothy Band
Bothy band
A bothy band is a musical group which comes from the farming culture of nineteenth century Scotland. At that time agriculture was relatively labour-intensive. As a result large farms often had a small community associated with them, the farm toun. This was made up of married couples who lived in...
, Philip Chevon of The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
, and Pat Kilbride of the Battlefield Band
Battlefield Band
Battlefield Band is a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, they have released over 30 albums and undergone many changes of lineup. As of 2010, there are no founder members in the band....
.
Ami Sciulli
In addition to her musical work, Ami has been a student of ReikiReiki
is a spiritual practice developed in 1922 by Japanese Buddhist Mikao Usui. The teaching was continued and adapted by various teachers. It uses a technique commonly called palm healing as a form of complementary and alternative medicine and is sometimes classified as oriental medicine by some...
and holistic health since 1987.
Critical response
- John DilibertoJohn DilibertoJohn Diliberto is an award-winning radio producer, music writer, and host of Echoes, a radio program on Public Radio International featuring ambient, downtempo music "soundscapes"....
, NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
host of EchoesEchoes (radio program)Echoes is a daily two-hour music radio program hosted by John Diliberto featuring a soundscape of ambient, space, electronica, and New Age music. The program features in-depth artist interviews and intimate "living room" performances. Interview subjects have included Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel,...
, has written, "Their music ranges from deep meditative drones to the electronica dance grooves of their latest CD, Star. Life in Balance shows us the way." - “Your music added to a new Pittsburgh.”- Bill PedutoBill PedutoWilliam Peduto, Democrat, was elected to Pittsburgh City Council, District 8, in November, 2001, and to a second four-year term in 2005.In the spring primary of 2005, Peduto ran for two positions. Besides running for re-election for his council seat, Peduto was a candidate for mayor...
, Pittsburgh City CouncilPittsburgh City CouncilThe Pittsburgh City Council is the legislative body of the City of Pittsburgh. It consists of nine members. City council members are chosen by plurality elections in each of nine districts.... - Author and healer Sondra RaySondra RaySondra Ray is a Californian author and self-improvement lecturer.Sondra Ray, eminent author and public figure on the subjects of Relationships, Rebirthing/Breathwork, India Spiritual Quests, A Course in Miracles, Hawaiian Wisdom, The Divine Mother, and Spiritual Healing gives her voice to the new...
has praised them, saying, "Life In Balance music is so perfect for ascension." - Carl Johan CallemanCarl Johan CallemanCarl Johan Calleman, , is a toxicologist as well as an author and speaker on the millenarian New Age interpretation of the Mayan calendar known as Mayanism. He differs from professional Mayanists in seeing 28 October 2011 and not 21 December 2012 as a significant date...
, author, Mayan Calendar, "I have been using the sounds of Star in several of my workshop because I and the participants feel this is meditative music that creates resonance with the very deepest levels of our souls." - Magical Blend Magazine, ".... Life In Balance creates a healing musical experience that permeates the very cells. Its quiet, haunting tones provide a vehicle for meditation and personal exploration."