More than 1000 poets and supporters of poetry listened to the CD "Tenth Muse" at the annual International Society of Poetry gathering in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2007. Master poets and teachers offered approval and encouragement of this breakthrough project. The comments, here summarized, are reactions from an international audience representing 20 countries:

• “Delightful and soothing”
• “Inspirational and relaxing”
• “I have to have one. NOW!"
• “This is a new and worthwhile marriage of the arts.”
• “I found the poetry and music delightful and soothing. The production quality was excellent.” (Jeffrey Williams ISP Poet of the Year)

On a recent visit to Europe another less numerous but nationally and culturally diverse sample was obtained:

• “Bewitching.” “Wonderful.” (Belgium senior retirees)
• “We listen to it over and over.” (40 something restaurateurs)
• “Passionate.”   (Portuguese 50 something couple)
• “A delightful experience.” (Manuel Neto dos Santos, poet/actor/critic)
• “The poet expresses himself in the form known as ‘poesia pura’, free of the contamination of negative feelings, worldly strife… We would call attention to the poetry of Walt Whitman, on one hand, and Spanish Nobel laureate of literature, Juan Ramon Jimenez, on the other… Our world needs the stimulation and soothing effect of this presentation.”  (John Howard Wolf, PhD, retired university professor of Romance languages and Literatures, writer, critic, visual artist)

"An hour with John Barbetta's spiritually-imbibed CD Tenth Muse is like meditating in the midst of gracious irises. Barbetta blends poetry, music, theatrics, and voice to create a listening experience that works like yoga, fine wine, and Meditterranean cuisine. You are not sure why, but you emerge from Barbetta's creations feeling good, very good, intelligent, strong, and in love for the right reasons, none of which you can precisely name. Inspiration is too banal to describe these timeless musical adventures where words become notes and careful silences provoke smiles." (David Applefield, editor of FRANK, author of "Once Removed" and "On a Flying Fish."

On September 8, 2008 I presented the Tenth Muse, “passionate dance of poetry and music”, at the iconic Shakespeare and Company, Paris. An overflow crowd spilled out into the corridors of the prestigious writers' personal collection library. After the presentation and discussion / reaction session, members of all ages, students to seniors from virtually all over the globe expressed their support for the Tenth Muse project. "Amazing." "Phenomenal." "I loved it!" "I loved being here!” These were some of the heartwarming post performance comments. My recent “thank you” e mail to Shakespeare and Company was answered by Sylvia Beach Whitman: “Thank you! It was wonderful.” In October I was in Portugal. I am working on a book of poetry and images. This will contain the Tenth-Muse CD (current or revised edition). Visual artist, Romantic Literatures scholar John Howard Wolf has graciously accepted the collaboration role. David Applefield has kindly offered to advise on the project. The working title Is “UnSeen”. More on the Unseen objectives.