Cosmic Music

Please join Ars Nova Workshop to celebrate the release of journalist Andy Beta’s essential new biography, Cosmic Music: The Life, Art and Transcendence of Alice Coltrane, featuring a performance by keyboardist Surya Botofasina, at Solar Myth on Thursday, June 18, 2026.

In Cosmic Music, music journalist Andy Beta traces the life, career and legacy of pianist, organist, harpist and composer Alice Coltrane, one of the most misunderstood artists of the last sixty years. The first full biography of this remarkable, groundbreaking artist is an elegant, deeply researched corrective to the historical—and critical—record. It elevates Coltrane to her proper place alongside her husband, the iconic saxophonist John Coltrane, as one of the greatest musical visionaries of the 20th century, and also as a singular artist in Western music, one who became a spiritual leader in her lifetime.

To celebrate the biography’s release, Ars Nova will present keyboardist Surya Botofasina, who was raised as a spiritual student of Alice Coltrane at the Sai Anantam Ashram in Southern California. Her musical and religious teachings continue to have a profound effect on the keyboardist, whose career has since gone on to take in acting stints in the TV series Vinyl and Boardwalk Empire alongside a diverse range of musical collaborations with the likes of Reggie Workman, Joey Bada$$, Gangstarr’s GURU, Amel Larrieux, N’Dea Davenport, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson.