Many events are coming up over the next few months, including two free concerts!
-I started a series at Ange Neige (251 Rachel East)in November called "Singing with the Angels." I am pleased to announce this series will continue throughout 2012 every month except June, July and August!
We begin with a sequence of toning and Sanskrit seed mantras to open our hearts and voices, and we explore sacred chants in Latin, Sanskrit, Hebrew and other "languages of light" around themes such as light, peace, transformation, healing, divine power and compassion. While I accompany the group on harp, each member accompanies our chants with bells, chimes, fairy balls and singing bowls. The experience of creating these celestial sounds amid hundreds of angels in this lovely angel boutique is simply transcendental. Participants tell me the good feeling from the workshop last for days afterwards!
The workshops are $20 per person and take place on Saturday mornings from 9 to 11 a.m. The next dates are: Jan. 21, Feb 25, March 31, April 28 and May 26. Reserve for a workshop by calling Isabelle or Franceen at Ange Neige at 514-845-2643.
-Two free concerts of early music with my friend Laura Osterlund (recorder and vielle) are coming up this winter. The first one is part of the Dominicales series at St-Jean-Baptiste in the Chapelle St-Louis (4230 Drolet). Our concert is on Sunday, February 5 from 4 to 4:45 p.m., and we'll also play during mass afterwards. Admission is free; your free-will donations will be gratefully accepted.
-The second free concert is also with Laura on Sunday, March 25 at 1:30 p.m. at the Villa Medica Rehabilitation Hospital (225 Sherbrooke East). The concert is for the patients and is open to the public. The concert takes place on the first floor; just head left once you go through the front doors.
-In early March, I'll be playing for mass at St. John the Evangelist (137 President Kennedy) beginning at 10:15 a.m. I'll post a date soon.
-My winter schedule at Studio Bliss (3841 St. Laurent) is Mondays at 8:15 p.m. in hatha flow with Frances, a beautiful teacher who is trained in Jivamukti yoga. Come and join us for blissful chanting and yoga at 8:15 p.m. this Monday!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Thursday, May 12, 2011
This spring
The times are the same, but the style of classes I'm playing in at Studio Bliss has changed. Monday at 8:15 p.m. and Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. are both hatha flow classes now, which is a great way to get some movement in your day and relax at the same time! I promise, between the energetic yoga and the harp music, you'll float back home afterwards!
Also, I'll be playing for a workshop led by Lisa Lewak-Brun at Ange Neige, "Connecting with Your Angels," on Wednesday, June 15 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with my friend Geneviève Adams and her gorgeous crystal singing bowls. Contact Franceen at Ange Neige to register.
Also, I'll be playing for a workshop led by Lisa Lewak-Brun at Ange Neige, "Connecting with Your Angels," on Wednesday, June 15 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with my friend Geneviève Adams and her gorgeous crystal singing bowls. Contact Franceen at Ange Neige to register.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Harp this winter
-I'm playing each week at Studio Bliss:
Mondays for the 8:15 p.m. restorative/yogatherapeutics course with Carina Raisman
Tuesdays for the 6:30 p.m. Yin Yoga course with Audray Kingsley
-I'll be playing for a Sunday night mantra night at Yoga Sangha in March or April.
-Also in March or April, a happy hour show is in the works at Café l'Escalier, a delicious vegetarian café near the Berri-UQÀM metro station with home-brewed kombucha and a great beer selection. I am planning to bring my mountain dulcimer and my wonderful husband and his guitar - we have some original arrangements and reworkings of Appalachian tunes I grew up hearing my mother play and sing on the dulcimer that I know people will enjoy.
-I'm playing for workshops and meditations on angels, dreams and other spiritual topics at Ange Neige, a beautiful angel boutique that is the only one of its kind in Montreal. Franceen, like me, is a busy lady and does not always have the time to update her blog, so a good way to keep up with the dates I play there (and elsewhere) is via my Facebook page.
Mondays for the 8:15 p.m. restorative/yogatherapeutics course with Carina Raisman
Tuesdays for the 6:30 p.m. Yin Yoga course with Audray Kingsley
-I'll be playing for a Sunday night mantra night at Yoga Sangha in March or April.
-Also in March or April, a happy hour show is in the works at Café l'Escalier, a delicious vegetarian café near the Berri-UQÀM metro station with home-brewed kombucha and a great beer selection. I am planning to bring my mountain dulcimer and my wonderful husband and his guitar - we have some original arrangements and reworkings of Appalachian tunes I grew up hearing my mother play and sing on the dulcimer that I know people will enjoy.
-I'm playing for workshops and meditations on angels, dreams and other spiritual topics at Ange Neige, a beautiful angel boutique that is the only one of its kind in Montreal. Franceen, like me, is a busy lady and does not always have the time to update her blog, so a good way to keep up with the dates I play there (and elsewhere) is via my Facebook page.
Southeastern Harp Conference
I could not believe it when I looked at the last post and it was dated July. This is in large part due to the wonderful work I've been doing with my harp, as well as much learning with my teacher and at the Southeastern Harp Conference. This lovely conference was conveniently located near my 93-year-old grandmother's house, so I got to enjoy spending some time with her, and bask in the glory of my native North Carolina Appalachian Mountains.
I got to study with some amazing harpists, including Maeve Gilchrist, Frank Voltz and Rhett Barnwell. I took a great class on Baroque music with Rhett, and it was a tremendous experience to learn from such a talented multi-instrumentalist and arranger. His favourite composer is Bach (as is mine!) and although the harp was used for barroom entertainment rather than court music during the Baroque era, pioneers like Rhett and Deborah Friou are making arrangements that we folk harp players can use. I am excited to be able to work towards using Baroque and Classical music as a healing modality with their arrangements. (Did you know Baroque music is used by doctors during heart surgery, as the steady rhythm helps the human heart to entrain to its beat? Not to mention its benefits to your mood and brain...)
A real highlight was getting to take four classes with my dear friend Stella Benson, author of "The Healing Musician" and founder of the International Musicians' Healing Program. I also got to spend lots of time outside the classroom with this warm, wonderful woman, a pioneer and authority on using the harp for bedside work. She has done all the therapeutic music programs currently offered in the United States and she is a fountain of information.
You don't have to play the harp to enjoy her peaceful harp music - you can order the CDs from Stella's Web site:
Click on the New Grail link:
http://www.healersway.com/
Stella is simply amazing, and the next instrument she is learning is one from my own childhood, the Appalachian mountain dulcimer. My mother plays and taught me as a teen and again as an adult, and I just love singing and playing it. She gave my husband a dulcimer one Christmas and he plays it very creatively with it using his guitar background. Stella sees how the dulcimer's versatility, modal capacity, and ease of learning (you don't have to read music to play) would make it a wonderful bedside instrument. When played traditionally, there is a drone effect that is also deeply calming. Stella and I made plans for some Skype sharing this Christmas so she can see how my mother and husband play.
Finally, a session with harpist and Alexander Technique specialist Laury Christie was tremendously enlightening. I wish she could be at the Northern Lights Fest too, and perhaps someday she will - her partner is a big fan of French Canadian folk music!
I got to study with some amazing harpists, including Maeve Gilchrist, Frank Voltz and Rhett Barnwell. I took a great class on Baroque music with Rhett, and it was a tremendous experience to learn from such a talented multi-instrumentalist and arranger. His favourite composer is Bach (as is mine!) and although the harp was used for barroom entertainment rather than court music during the Baroque era, pioneers like Rhett and Deborah Friou are making arrangements that we folk harp players can use. I am excited to be able to work towards using Baroque and Classical music as a healing modality with their arrangements. (Did you know Baroque music is used by doctors during heart surgery, as the steady rhythm helps the human heart to entrain to its beat? Not to mention its benefits to your mood and brain...)
A real highlight was getting to take four classes with my dear friend Stella Benson, author of "The Healing Musician" and founder of the International Musicians' Healing Program. I also got to spend lots of time outside the classroom with this warm, wonderful woman, a pioneer and authority on using the harp for bedside work. She has done all the therapeutic music programs currently offered in the United States and she is a fountain of information.
You don't have to play the harp to enjoy her peaceful harp music - you can order the CDs from Stella's Web site:
Click on the New Grail link:
http://www.healersway.com/
Stella is simply amazing, and the next instrument she is learning is one from my own childhood, the Appalachian mountain dulcimer. My mother plays and taught me as a teen and again as an adult, and I just love singing and playing it. She gave my husband a dulcimer one Christmas and he plays it very creatively with it using his guitar background. Stella sees how the dulcimer's versatility, modal capacity, and ease of learning (you don't have to read music to play) would make it a wonderful bedside instrument. When played traditionally, there is a drone effect that is also deeply calming. Stella and I made plans for some Skype sharing this Christmas so she can see how my mother and husband play.
Finally, a session with harpist and Alexander Technique specialist Laury Christie was tremendously enlightening. I wish she could be at the Northern Lights Fest too, and perhaps someday she will - her partner is a big fan of French Canadian folk music!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Every Monday evening at Studio Bliss: Harp in two Carina Raisman classes
I'm positively overjoyed to report that in addition to playing every Saturday at 3 p.m. in Brian Tuck's class, I will also be playing another weekly spot at Studio Bliss: Carina Raisman's Monday evening classes.
I could easily fill this blog with all the positive things I have to say about Carina. She is one of my most cherished teachers, one who has helped to deepen and refine my yoga practice and who has changed my life for the better in many, many ways. I am honoured beyond measure to have the opportunity to bring musical support to her classes each week.
In additon to her Yoga Alliance certification in Ashtanga Yoga, Carina has studied Anusara yoga with John Friend, Satyanada Yoga at the Kedar School of Barcelona, and Hatha Yoga at the Institute of Yoga and Meditation in Montreal. She also holds a bachelor's in immunology and microbiology from McGill University that informs her teaching and gives her a special understanding of the ways in which asana and pranayama can improve our health. She empowers other yoga teachers and bodyworkers with this knowledge in her anatomy courses at her home studio, Yoga for You/Yoga pour toi.
Her tremendous intellect is paired with a huge heart, making her a teacher who is beloved by many near and far.
The classes I'll be playing in on Mondays are absolutely wonderful to take back to back if you feel so inclined - it's like a mini workshop! Each one is also a treasure in and of itself.
From 6:30 to 7:45 p.m., Carina teaches an invigorating Hatha Flow class in which you will come away with new insights into your body and new ways to breathe fully and feel the postures deeply. From 8:15 to 9:30 p.m. is her Yoga Therapy class, or as she calls it, "the class that you create." Bring your aches and pains, chronic conditions, cares and worries, and tell Carina what you need help with. She is available for the half hour between the two classes and afterwards should there be anything at all you'd like to tell her about in private - she can incorporate it into the class with complete discretion and respect for your needs.
Come and join us for breath, movement, knowledge, strength and healing. I look forward to seeing you there!
I could easily fill this blog with all the positive things I have to say about Carina. She is one of my most cherished teachers, one who has helped to deepen and refine my yoga practice and who has changed my life for the better in many, many ways. I am honoured beyond measure to have the opportunity to bring musical support to her classes each week.
In additon to her Yoga Alliance certification in Ashtanga Yoga, Carina has studied Anusara yoga with John Friend, Satyanada Yoga at the Kedar School of Barcelona, and Hatha Yoga at the Institute of Yoga and Meditation in Montreal. She also holds a bachelor's in immunology and microbiology from McGill University that informs her teaching and gives her a special understanding of the ways in which asana and pranayama can improve our health. She empowers other yoga teachers and bodyworkers with this knowledge in her anatomy courses at her home studio, Yoga for You/Yoga pour toi.
Her tremendous intellect is paired with a huge heart, making her a teacher who is beloved by many near and far.
The classes I'll be playing in on Mondays are absolutely wonderful to take back to back if you feel so inclined - it's like a mini workshop! Each one is also a treasure in and of itself.
From 6:30 to 7:45 p.m., Carina teaches an invigorating Hatha Flow class in which you will come away with new insights into your body and new ways to breathe fully and feel the postures deeply. From 8:15 to 9:30 p.m. is her Yoga Therapy class, or as she calls it, "the class that you create." Bring your aches and pains, chronic conditions, cares and worries, and tell Carina what you need help with. She is available for the half hour between the two classes and afterwards should there be anything at all you'd like to tell her about in private - she can incorporate it into the class with complete discretion and respect for your needs.
Come and join us for breath, movement, knowledge, strength and healing. I look forward to seeing you there!
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