The fountain of jewels activated! Our ears tingled with every heartbeat, listening with our elders.

Our peaceful uprising continues flowing directly to love.

We heard Earth weeping, remembering the emerald.

In the bigger picture with our timeless elders we are whole together, living in harmonious worlds.

Particles in space returning home riding on waves of gold, triumphant upon arrival!

The whimsical but poignant adventure of this album is told through the narrative of musical progressions, made explicit in the liner notes. An etheric being works to tune the planets of the solar system from an intergalactic perspective. Venusian pebbles are transformed into jewels by feeling empathy for Earth. A restorative healing effort for the Earth's ecological crisis uses a massive emerald. A meeting with musical ancestors creates a comprehensive narrative that is equally meditative, spiritual, and melodic. A nuclear scare and choosing a deliberate peace resolves the album with a reminder that we must hold love as our basis of civilization and humanity. ---------------

"Ethereal Escapes is the musical sequel to Merrill Collins' Echappees Etheriques. Performed by the composer at the piano along with flautist Laura Halladay and cellist Maksim Velichkin, the album connects three stories that Collins wrote in 1987 - a time when her birthday coincided with the Harmonic Convergence, one of the world's first globally synchronized meditation events, which also closely coincided with an exceptional alignment of the planets (August 16-17, 1987). This production conveys the utter vastness and beauty of the ether - encompassing at once new age, contemporary, and classical styles, with the Baroque forms of unmeasured preludes and ground bass meeting a contemporary melodic language."
- Kabir Sehgal, New York Times bestselling author, Multi-GRAMMY & Latin GRAMMY Award winning producer

"Seldom do three musicians work together to such a degree that it almost seems as if they are of the same mind and same body, operating in unison to express a singular musical vision - and the vision represented on this album is daring and beautiful. Throughout the recording, all three artists take turns center stage, although that is a relative statement since most of the time, it seems like they're all pirouetting around each other equally, forming a unique neo-chamber sound all of a piece. // Ethereal Escapes is strikingly beautiful and I would hope that its popularity will reach far beyond classical music fans. All three artists play their instruments splendidly, yet no one ever steps so far out in front as to distract from the organic nature of the 'whole.' I imagine that I am far from finished with listening to this excellent recording."
- Bill Binkelman, Zone Music Reporter http://bit.ly/2tV2CpK

"Pablo Picasso once said that "the purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." Listening to Merrill Collins' Ethereal Escapes got me thinking of that famous quote. Both stress and worries really seem to disappear when experiencing Collins' genuine and heartfelt compositions. It is art with a purpose; to give your soul a much needed ethereal escape."
- BT Farmer, New Age Music Guide http://bit.ly/2tu8xBj

"Far more than 'just another piano album'... the fact that all sixteen pieces are original compositions only enhances the attraction [of] ... the intricacy and interaction between the three players... it sounds like they are right there in your living room playing for you... simple, but abounding with the beauty that music is supposed to provide for us all. // Their "pacing" is perfection... there is no "rush to musical judgement", or overstatement in their playing... just beauty! // Merrill highlights in the liner notes that "my players often interact with each other like a musical conversation,' and she's not just hyping the album with that comment... It's really true, as you will realize when you listen to the sentiments. // ...The listener can "see" (aurally) the wonder that this world could be for them if they pursued music like this on a daily basis."
- Dick Metcalf, Editor, Contemporary Fusion Reviews http://bit.ly/2u4yZD7

Listeners who pre-order Ethereal Escapes will get the "prequel" album, Echapees Etheriques, another poetic musical adventure by the same trio, for free. A rare and fantastic offer!

10% of proceeds from album sales go to the Institute of Individual and World Peace (www.IIWP.org)