The Musician’s Quest

The Musician’s Quest is an invitation to move beyond musical knowledge, personality, and technical skills – beyond the intellect – into more unknown, intuitive territory. It asks how we can trust the present moment, trust our core strengths, become open channels, and step outside our comfort zones. It is about allowing the magic to flow through us, deepening our intention in making music, and coming closer to our essential musical gift and purpose.”

How this training came into being is closely connected to my own story as a musician. When I was younger and decided to fully commit to music, I studied saxophone at a jazz conservatory for five years. While I absorbed a great deal of useful information that later served me well as a professional musician, I always felt the approach was too technical and one-sided. It was not aimed at helping me evolve as a musician in my wholeness as a human being.

For me, music was always more than entertainment; it was a way to touch the inexpressible and make the unspeakable palpable. Yet my musical training seemed largely void of any spiritual dimension. By the end of those five years, I was emotionally and spiritually burnt out. I was so highly trained that I could have played almost any style of music at a very high level – but I had completely forgotten why I wanted to be a musician in the first place.

Over time, I also came to understand that musical growth can only go as far as one’s spiritual evolution. My search at that time led me to Osho and his ashram in Poona, where I stayed for nine months on my first visit. Playing music for meditators in Buddha Hall helped me reconnect with the essence of why I loved making music.

This brings me back to The Musician’s Quest. A few years ago, I began to feel that I was slowly becoming an “elder”, and that life had given me an enormously broad range of experience across many musical fields. It felt like the right moment to start sharing this with other musicians. At the same time, I knew I did not want to teach in the ways I had been taught when I was younger, nor in the ways I myself had taught in earlier phases of my life.

Gradually, the idea formed for a training that would bring together musical knowledge, exercises, and experiments with a deeper spiritual dimension. This would allow space for questions such as:

• What is my true calling in music, and how do I manifest it in the world?
• What energetic or mental blocks prevent me from fully committing to my music (self-confidence and self-worth)?
• How do I feel when I play music alone or with others?
• What patterns do I repeat, and are they serving my evolution or holding me back?
• How do I free my creative flow?
• How do I listen to others and allow myself to be inspired, while still staying true to myself (interaction, surrender, and boundaries)?
• How does my intention influence the music I make?
• How do I play music for healing, meditation, or ceremony?
• And finally, how do I become an open channel, no longer standing in the way of the divine magic flowing through me? How do I become a vessel?

All of these questions may arise during The Musician’s Quest, but how the process will unfold depends very much on the participants and their individual needs.

When I first developed the idea for this training and shared it with people around me, the response was overwhelmingly encouraging. Gradually, I felt more and more that I was the right person to offer this work.

I have had a successful career as a recording artist, with thirteen solo albums, and as an entertainer in the contemporary jazz world, including a number one radio hit in the USA, a Billboard Top 10 charting album, and extensive rock ’n’ roll-style touring in many countries. Alongside this, I have worked as a versatile musician in many world music styles, as well as with electronics and DJs. I also have a solid understanding of how the music industry functions, and I work as a composer, producer, and studio owner.

At the same time, I have always lived and shared my music in another world – one where music supports healing and helps people reconnect with their inner essence. This has led me to work with artists and teachers such as Eckhart Tolle, Deva Premal & Miten, and many others.

The Musician’s Quest is my attempt to fuse these two worlds.

I genuinely love working with musicians in this way. It is deeply fulfilling to witness people opening up, stepping out of their comfort zones, and facing – and overcoming – their fears. Often, we discover that many of these fears and challenges are shared. Naming them, holding space for one another, and moving through them together can be profoundly healing and transformative. Over time, everyone finds the courage to enter the unknown and explore new ways of being and creating.

Every group is different and shapes its own path and themes. While I bring many ideas and possible directions, the actual programme emerges as we go along, allowing me to respond to the group’s process in the moment. At times, the focus is more strongly on music; at other times, the self-development process takes centre stage. These two aspects flow together organically. To support this way of working, I keep the group small – usually no more than fifteen participants – so there is enough time and space to meet each person’s needs.

It is also fascinating to see how well this process works despite differences in musical level, knowledge, and experience. Participants learn from one another in unexpected ways. Stepping out of one’s comfort zone has little to do with technical level; in fact, it is often more challenging for highly skilled musicians who have established habits and strong beliefs about how things should be done.

A basic musical level is required, as the training is not intended for complete beginners. As one participant shared afterwards: “When I arrived at the Quest, I felt intimidated, because I thought everyone else was so good. Then I discovered that everyone was thinking exactly the same thing about each other.”

I cannot imagine ever becoming tired or bored of sharing this process. To me, musicians working in the field of consciousness are the shamans of our time – expressing themselves in the material world while remaining connected to a non-material dimension. Music can be so much more than entertainment; it can carry the essence and intention of its creator and guide us towards our higher potential. That transmission is essential. Without it, we might as well leave music-making to AI.

Each year, I continue to learn, develop, and refine The Musician’s Quest, supported by the feedback of participants.

In the future, I would love to expand this into a year-long training with five or six modules, allowing more time to explore each theme in depth. Perhaps this will come. For now, the Quest remains a once-a-year, one-week event.

So if you are a music creator who wishes to expand, explore, co-create, and be inspired – and to be met and held in your wholeness as a human being – The Musician’s Quest may be for you.

The retreat takes place at Mas Corazon (mascorazonretreat.com), a beautifully-restored 17th-century masia in the mountains near Tordera, just a short journey from the Costa Brava beaches and Barcelona (the closest airports are Girona and Barcelona–El Prat).

The centre is surrounded by nature, terraces, and wide-open views. It provides healthy vegetarian meals, shared spaces for music-making, and plenty of corners for rest and reflection. The entire venue is dedicated exclusively to the group.

Supporting Praful is a small, experienced team with backgrounds in healing and meditation (Vimal Gabrielsen), movement coaching and yoga (Peter van der Burgh), and personal development (Meike van der Burgh-Smit). Daily movement and yoga sessions help participants come into the body and free creative energy, and individual guidance is available whenever needed.

Participants bring their own instruments; shared equipment and looping tools are also available. Singers are warmly welcome.

More details on prafulmusic.com or contact Praful via prafulquest@gmail.com

Introductory videos with participant’s feedback

• Musician’s Quest 2025 with Praful – impressions – music training – find your true calling in music: youtu.be
• Quest for Musicians & Singers – in-depth talk about the essence of this training: youtu.be

Praful

Praful is a master sound healer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer and producer based in Germany. prafulmusic.com