New Age Notes Magazine Interview – Soul Improvisations

November 2025

We are warmly welcoming pianist Devorah Maho Lewin to the New Age genre. Devorah is a talented pianist, composer, athlete, lawyer, and single mother of three. In 2023, after working for 17 years as a lawyer, she stepped down from her position due to her declining medical condition. She received five surgeries from 2022-2024 which enabled her to begin building a new life to focus on her childhood love of the piano and composing. she calls a “stream of consciousness approach” whereby she seeks to be a vessel for divinely inspired musical ideas to flow through her soul. Devorah founded Soul Improvisations with the mission of composing solo piano music to help uplift the spirits of others and foster recovery from trauma. Her music is truly from her soul to yours.

Devorah, you are a very gifted pianist and composer. What is your musical background?

I began playing the piano at a young age and from the first moment I touched the keys, I felt a deep, almost instinctive connection to music. However, unfortunately, due to my circumstances, I was unable to continue beyond my younger years.

I never attended a music school or received formal musical training aside from intermittent private piano lessons during my youth. Nevertheless, after taking a psychology class in high school and studying a unit on Abraham Maslow, the hierarchy of needs and self-actualization, I was awakened to the fact that my true passion was always playing the piano and that I somehow had to stay connected to music — but that proved very challenging.

At that time, I took it upon myself to learn Shumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor at the end of high school and then in college, while majoring in History & Political Science as a preparation for law school, I learned Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto, as lifelines to keep me going. Attending law school marked the end of even brief musical involvement until I hit a major crossroads in my life in 2022 at the age of 45.

At that time, I painfully acknowledged that throughout the initial 45-year chapter of my life, my deepest desire was to immerse myself in music and have the opportunity to develop my skills as a pianist. But I unfortunately did not have the support I so wished for.

Do you play any other instruments?

The piano is my main instrument, although I briefly explored others like the alto-saxophone in junior high in order to be part of the school band. The piano allows me to explore the wide range of human emotions, from quiet introspection to soaring joy, in a way that no other instrument does. It is truly the instrument that enables me to fully express the music flowing through me.

You worked as a lawyer for 17 years. What kind of law did you practice and why did you stop? Tell us how your five surgeries impacted your life and/or led you back to music.

I worked as a real estate lawyer for seventeen years before stepping down in 2023 due to my declining health and challenging circumstances. The five surgeries I received from 2022-2024 were a turning point in my life. In 2024, when I was granted the ability to move forward into a new life, I made the decision to dedicate this precious new life to fulfilling the mission of my soul to compose solo piano music to help uplift the spirits of others and foster recovery from trauma. I returned to the piano with a renewed sense of purpose, using it as a way to process emotions, connect spiritually, and express what words alone could not. This period marked the beginning of my journey as a full-time pianist and composer.

Your beautiful music is all improvised. What is your process for that? Do you hear it in your head first or how does this work?

I am a completely self-taught composer, driven by pure passion and divine inspiration, and my improvisational process is a deeply spiritual one. Whenever I have the cherished time to sit at the piano, I simply do not want to leave. Because raising young kids as a single mom and building a whole new life takes up a significant amount of time, I do not have the benefit of large blocks of time on my instrument.

Nevertheless, because music is so much a part of my entire being, I find that despite the limits of my outer circumstances, my mind gravitates and is always nourished by thinking about music, compositional ideas, and the current piece I am working on – so I often come up with portions of pieces while driving, in the shower, exercising or doing chores.

During the improvisational process, musical themes, motifs and emotions that serve as the starting point for compositions flow spontaneously, as if they are coming through me rather than from me. I approach the piano with openness, allowing melodies to unfold organically, shaped by my emotions and experiences in the moment. It is a practice of presence, trust and deep listening – a conversation between my soul and the instrument.

What is different about your music?

My music blends the emotional depth of classical piano with the freedom and unpredictability of heartfelt improvisation. It is New Age solo piano with a classical flair and touches of other styles woven in. Each composition is a reflection of my personal journey, a raw and intimate expression of life’s joys, struggles, and spiritual moments. Listeners often describe my music as transcendent, soothing, and emotionally evocative – space where they can connect with their own feelings.

You’ve built a brand around “Soul Improvisations.” Tell us a little about that. What does it encompass?

My company and artist name “Soul Improvisations” and its tag line “Music from My Soul to Yours” is both a brand and a mission. It encompasses my philosophy that the music stems from my soul and is rooted in spontaneous improvisation — a “stream of consciousness approach” whereby I seek to be a vessel for divinely inspired musical ideas to flow through me. Soul Improvisations embodies my commitment to creating music that touches the heart, uplifts the spirit, and connects listeners to their own inner emotional landscapes. It is about sharing music that resonates deeply and universally.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I feel that music serves as a universal mode of expression, and my hope is for my compositions to offer comfort, inspiration and healing to others. I strive to create music that resonates with a wide audience, offering listeners a chance to pause, reflect, and experience the profound beauty of sound and their own soul.