“The Divine Art of Music” Honors 100th Anniversary of Paramahansa…

Music that is saturated with soul force is the real universal music, understandable by all hearts. I have had many demonstrations of this truth during years of appearing before American audiences.

Paramahansa Yogananda in his Prelude to “Cosmic Chants”

On April 18, 2026, Self‑Realization Fellowship presented “The Divine Art of Music” at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall — in honor of the centennial of Paramahansa Yogananda’s introducing the transformative power of devotional chanting to audiences at this historic venue (see more below).

This year’s sold-out event included a brief talk by SRF monk Brother Devananda on chanting as a form of yoga, prior to he and the other members of the SRF monks’ kirtan group leading periods of chanting. Audience members were invited to participate in singing along with the chanting, and to experience the peace of meditation in the silent intervals between the chants. The night’s performance incorporated several elevating instrumental pieces of Western classical music as well, echoing how Paramahansaji had included similar works into his original Carnegie Hall lecture series.

We hope you enjoy these images and a short video montage from this very joyful and inspiring night.

The program took place in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

The event had quickly sold out.

The audience was warmly welcomed by the MC for the evening, Jennifer Jones, an SRF member from the SRF New York City Center.

Echoing how Paramahansa Yogananda had included similar works into his original Carnegie Hall lecture series, several elevating instrumental pieces of Western classical music were performed by SRF members Bethany Grace Folsum (Violin), and Darren Motise (Piano).

SRF monk Brother Devananda led the opening prayer, and then gave a brief introduction on the spiritual power engendered through devotional singing.

Filling Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall to capacity, the audience enthusiastically joined the kirtan chanting.

From the harmonium, Brother Devananda led the Self-Realization Fellowship monks' kirtan group playing ghatam, tabla, and cymbals, with SRF member Joey Dee Cirillo on tanpura.

In the intervals between the chants the audience experienced the deep silence of meditative stillness.

The performers and event organizers from the SRF New York City Center pose for a photo during the reception following the evening's program.

The next day, Sunday, April 19, another program was held in a separate venue, attended by many of those who could not obtain tickets to the program the previous evening. This included a meditation with kirtan chanting, an inspirational service by Brother Devananda, and a musical performance by visiting artists.

I was thrilled to be in attendance for ‘The Divine Art of Music’ event at Carnegie Hall. The vibration of joy and upliftment was palpable as hundreds of voices rang out in unison, led by the SRF monks’ kirtan group. The moment the chanting started, the hall seemed as transformed into an ancient holy temple, filled with vibrations of Paramahansa Yogananda and love for God. The atmosphere of devotion was tangible, and the stillness felt in the periods of meditation was electric.

J. J., Encinitas

The celebratory occasion fell on the 100thanniversary of Paramahansaji’s opening lecture in a weeklong series of free lectures he gave in April of 1926 at Carnegie Hall, which he called the “music temple of America.” On that night, the 2,800-seat main concert hall filled to capacity, with more than a thousand people being turned away at the door. His audience, though unfamiliar with India’s sacred tradition of chanting, were utterly uplifted and transfixed by what he taught — and exemplified.

Announcement of Paramahansa Yogananda’s weeklong lecture series at Carnegie Hall in April 1926. Courtesy of Carnegie Hall Rose Archives.

A Tradition Born of Universal Understanding

It was at the end of his opening talk, on “Everlasting Youth,” that Paramahansaji had his “first outstanding experience with Western reaction to Eastern chants,” as he would later note in his Autobiography of a Yogi.

As he relates in the Prelude to his book of chants, Cosmic Chants: “I started to chant ‘O God Beautiful’ and asked the audience, who had never before heard the song, to join me in chanting it. For one hour and twenty-five minutes, the thousands of voices of the entire audience chanted ‘O God Beautiful’ in a divine atmosphere of joyous praise. Even after I had left the stage, the audience sat on, chanting the song. The next day many men and women testified to the God-perception and the healing of body, mind, and soul that had taken place during the sacred chanting, and numerous requests came in to repeat the song at other services.”

The experience was an undeniable testament to Paramahansaji’s conviction, expressed to some musical friends of his shortly before and in anticipation of that evening, that “all soulful people, whether familiar or not with Eastern or Western music, would understand the divine yearning of my heart during chanting.”

Additional Events Celebrating This 100th Anniversary

Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, the name by which Paramahansa Yogananda’s work is known in India and surrounding countries, also commemorated this anniversary with a special event at the Yogoda Satsanga Ashram in Noida. More than 850 YSS devotees and friends attended the event. The program included inspirational talks on the spiritual significance of devotional chanting, delivered in both English and Hindi by YSS monastics. Devotional chanting was then led by the YSS monks’ kirtan group. The event concluded with the playing of the recording of Paramahansa Yogananda singing the chant “O God Beautiful.” (This recording is included on the album Songs of My Heart, available from Self-Realization Fellowship on CD or as an MP3 download.)

The SRF Encinitas Temple, located in the seaside town of Encinitas, California, held an event led by an SRF monastic entitled “Carnegie Hall by the Sea,” which included chanting of “O God Beautiful” interspersed with time for mental chanting of the same chant. The chanting period in total lasted for approximately one hour and twenty-five minutes, the duration of time Paramahansaji chanted with his audience at Carnegie Hall in 1926. This was followed by a longer period of meditation so that those in attendance could experience the depths of peace.

We invite you to learn more about the divine art of devotional chanting — and how you can incorporate this powerful spiritual practice, and the inner peace it brings, into your meditations and your life.

Experience the joy of devotional chanting