Sandra Bain Cushman’s passion for unlocking creative potential began with her theater studies at Cornell University in 1977. A certified teacher of the Alexander Technique since 1990, she has taught renowned musicians, writers, theater groups, medical professionals, and business leaders how to gain greater poise, balance, and freedom in their work and in their lives.
Sandra is the founder of Orchestral Maneuvers which “offers a simple, straightforward and accessible method of developing presence, coordination and attention for the individual musician, musicians and their instruments, musicians and their instruments within a group or orchestra; and for the group and orchestra as a whole.” (Robert Fripp)
Orchestral Maneuvers is also studied by groups of non-musicians who want to develop the discipline, creativity and cohesiveness enjoyed by orchestral musicians. OM is fun!
Sandra has worked with Robert Fripp’s Guitar Craft and Guitar Circles of North America, South America and Europe, from 1988-1990 and from 2000-present.
Sandra is a graduate of Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing training and holds a certificate in teaching breathing coordination. She is the author of Mind Body 40 Days, an AT-based support guide for those beginning mind-body practices and Bougainvillea, a book about the Technique—that never mentions the Technique. (episodes of Bougainvillea available on Spotify at Women Speaking)
Sandra has been on the faculty for the McIntire Department of Music at the University of Virginia and the Contemplative Sciences Center at UVA. She currently runsan AmSAT-approved teacher training course in Charlottesville, VA.
She lives on a mountainside in Virginia with poet and professor, Stephen Cushman. She has two grown sons, Simon and Samuel.