“Echoing Canyon” is an evocative cinematic piano piece composed by Karen Biehl in May 2019. Karen originally considered the name “Song of the Bell Birds”, as the piece lies in the upper octaves of the piano and is reminiscent of the call of bellbirds in Australia.
“Echoing Canyon” is the opening song in the new Magic Piano episode. Listen to it here:
As you listen to “Echoing Canyon”, you can imagine that you are descending into a canyon and are surrounded by the echoing of the sounds of nature: birds flying and singing, leaves gently falling in the wind, a babbling brook or perhaps even the calls of children hiking in the canyon. Towards the end of the piece, the music goes into the lower keys as you have finally reached the bottom of the canyon. The music then quickly ascends back up into an echo that takes you back to the top of the canyon (and piece).
There’s an almost eerie quality to the music, as if the canyon is enchanted. No matter where you are in the canyon, all sounds echo and merge into one voice that ascends into the heavens.
This is the solo piano version of “ Echoing Canyon”, but there will be a version for piano, violin and voice (all performed and recorded by Karen) that will be released in the near future.
The song is available on Amazon.
About Karen:
Born and raised in Dallas, Karen Biehl began studying music at the age of 8, when she began taking piano lessons and playing violin in her school orchestra. She studied piano throughout her childhood and played violin with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra and All-Region Orchestra.
Karen studied voice with former Metropolitan Opera tenor Thomas Hayward at Southern Methodist University, where she received a degree in Vocal Performance. While at SMU, she also studied music theory and electronic music composition with composer Jack Waldenmaier, continued her studies in piano, and played violin in the Meadows Symphony Orchestra underthe direction of Anshel Brusilow.
After graduation, Karen sang in the Dallas Opera Chorus for a season before her studies took her to San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she completed a masters degree in singing, performing various roles with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Opera. After studying and performing in Italy for a few months, Karen moved to Manhattan where she performed soprano leading roles with several small local opera companies.
Over time, Karen preferred to create melodies of her own and focus on her own creative experience. In 1999, she began composing a collection of music inspired by visions of her True Love, whom she called “The Maestro”. After finally meeting him, a musician and Maestro indeed, she was inspired to create guided meditations, all set to her musical compositions, to assist others in overcoming obstacles and in fulfilling their dreams.
Karen created her first guided meditation, “Journey to True Purpose”, to help the Maestro’s students with focusing in the classroom and finding their true self and purpose. She then created “Journey to True Love: A Guided Meditation to Attract the Love of Your Dreams” to help others seeking their partner, using the exact same methods she used to attract her true love into her life. In her meditation “Journey to True Health”, she shares guidance she received during two health crises that helped her avoid surgery.
In mid-November 2018, Karen released her first solo piano album, “Starlight Dreams”, a collection of relaxing and reflective piano music to stir your soul and awaken your dreams. The album was named “Best Solo Piano Album 2018” by New Age Music Guide and ranked #4 on their top 10 albums of 2018. “Starlight Dreams” has also been nominated for the “Best Neo-Classical Album 2018” award for One World Music Radio’s awards in June 2019 and reached #13 on Zone Music Reporter’s February 2019 chart.
Karen is highly motivated by a desire to solve problems and transform difficult experiences into blessings for both herself and others. Inspired by high levels of stress experienced as a result of working in New York City, Karen recently created a short guided meditation called “Portal to Peace: A Mini Meditation for Minutes” which released in February 2019.
For more information and music samples. see maestramusica.com
“Echoing Canyon” is a featured song on New Age Stars Radio. For our full Karen Biehl coverage, see here.