On Sept. 14, as the sun sets over Jones Beach, hundreds of people will gather on the sand, slip on wireless headphones and listen together to music they cannot hear without them. At the center of the circle will be a piano — and at the keys, Murray Hidary.
Hidary, a Brooklyn-born composer, pianist and founder of MindTravel, has spent the last 11 years creating what he calls “silent piano concerts.” Through specialized headphones, audiences hear his improvised compositions in real-time, broadcast from his electric grand piano directly into their ears. From the outside, the event is almost noiseless, save for the lapping waves and footsteps in the sand.
“It’s silent from the outside, but deeply immersive on the inside,” Hidary said. “The moment you put the headphones on, you’re transported into another world. The music becomes a soundtrack to everything you’re seeing in front of you — the water, the sky, the people around you.”
A new kind of concert
The idea was born in Santa Monica in 2013, when Hidary first brought his piano to the beach. He wanted to pair his music with nature but faced a practical challenge: how would an audience hear the subtle tones of a piano in the open air?
The solution was technology. Hidary connected his electric grand to a transmitter, creating what he describes as a pop-up radio station on the beach. Audience members wear custom headphones that pick up the broadcast, whether they are seated on the sand or strolling half a mile away.
“Some people even keep listening while they walk to the restroom,” Hidary said with a laugh. “The sound is perfect everywhere.”
MindTravel provides the headphones at check-in. Attendees often bring blankets, beach chairs or picnics, forming a wide circle around the piano. Others wander toward the surf, walk hand-in-hand or watch their children play in the sand — all while hearing the same notes in sync.
The result, Hidary said, is both personal and communal.
“Everyone has an individual experience with the music, but they’re sharing that collectively,” he said. “You look around and you see everyone moved in different ways — couples embracing, kids playing, people reflecting. It’s very moving.”
Improvised in the moment
Every MindTravel concert is improvised. Hidary draws inspiration from the weather, the crowd and the environment around him.
“I want to feel the wind, the people, the place,” he said. “Each one is unique. It’s never the same concert twice.”
The headphones also solve another technical issue: keeping the piano in tune and maintaining a clean sound outdoors. “If you put a traditional piano on the beach, it would go out of tune in minutes,” Hidary said. “This way, people get a high-fidelity, immersive sound experience.”
From Brooklyn to Jones Beach
For Hidary, the Sept. 14 performance is a homecoming. He grew up near Coney Island, studied classical composition at New York University and still has family in the same Brooklyn home where he first learned piano at age 6.
“I’ve known Jones Beach my whole life, but this is our first time performing there,” he said. “It feels special to bring this to my own backyard.”
Organizers expect between 800 and 900 attendees — one of the largest MindTravel audiences to date. Over the years, Hidary has steadily expanded his headphone inventory to keep up with demand.
“We just kept buying more headphones,” he said. “Now we finally have enough for everyone.”
A mission of connection
MindTravel has grown from small beach gatherings into a global project. Hidary has staged concerts in more than 100 cities, from Miami Beach to the deserts of the Middle East and even Antarctica. Indoors, he sometimes alternates between acoustic and electric piano to highlight different textures. Outdoors, though, the silent format has become his signature.
At its core, Hidary said, MindTravel is about more than music.
“Our mission is to move people to greater purpose in their lives through music,” he said. “It’s about creating space to reflect, to feel and to connect — with yourself, with others, with nature.”
Hidary’s approach blends classical training, improvisation, meditation and philosophy. He credits early exposure to Eastern thought — particularly Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha — with shaping his perspective on music as a meditative practice.
“Music was always devotional for me,” he said. “It was never just about performance. It was about connecting with something deeper.”
A silent symphony by the sea
While the headphones create an internalized experience, Hidary said the concerts paradoxically foster togetherness.
“At first you’d think headphones would isolate people, but it’s the opposite,” he said. “Because everyone is hearing the same thing, you feel connected without needing to say a word.”
That connection is what draws families, couples and individuals back to his concerts year after year.
“People tell me it becomes the soundtrack of their lives,” Hidary said. “That’s what keeps me inspired.”
When the first notes sound on Sept. 14, the beach will remain quiet to passersby. But for the hundreds in headphones, Jones Beach will transform into a concert hall under the open sky.
“It’s a transporting experience filled with wonder,” Hidary said. “And it all clicks the moment you put the headphones on.”
The concert will be held at Jones Beach on Sunday, Sept. 14. Headphones pick-up begins at 4:30 p.m. The concert begins at 5 p.m. Bring your own chair or beach seating. Headphones are an essential part of this experience and will be available for walk-up ticket sales while supplies last. Visit www.eventbrite.com to purchase tickets in advance.
