How did you become interested in this line of work? (tell us a little bit about your background)

I am a musician since very early age and then I became interested in how music and sound affects people’s consciousness so immediately, and the potential of music to move and change the heart and everyone feels like a believer – someone that loves and trust. This essence of music can highly contribute to society’s peace and wellbeing…So, besides studying and making music all my life, I have a background as a former clinical psychologist and philosophy. I would implement music as part of all the therapeutic processes – individually and working with group therapy.

I also applied research on music in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, and since I grew up around forest shamans and legendary masters of consciousness transformation, I became an “INTEGRATOR”, approaching sound and particularly the voice, as a medium towards spiritual evolution that aims to unveil and giving back to a humanity its original innate divine nature – and what the music mystic Inayat Khan would refers as: “reclaiming human’s acoustic and luminous purity and transforming the self into a subtle cosmic resonator.” – I would add; even beyond music, vibration permeates all aspects of life – If we deep listening, we can re-enchant the world through group singing and ambient smooth sounds.

Please share a wellness tip or word of advice that relates to the workshop you will be presenting.

Find a private, relaxed and safe place to be for 20 mins. Select a powerful Seed Sound like: Ayaa Oo – or – Hai-Naa, etc. and accompanied it by a shaker’s simple pulse – repeat it and repeat it with sustain attention to sound in time and movement, until the Self and any trace of personality – or “needs”, dissolves into active listening and a magnetically inspired mood of playfulness. When the eyes softly close – that is the sign that the practitioner’s consciousness is traveling through sound-health. When the rhythm and the voice fades out, enjoy 10 mins of serene and luminous silence – as the vibrations of the practice are still molecularly shifting frequencies.

What or who inspires you? (This could be anything from your mentor to your favorite quote)

The morning sun in my forehead, listening to the birds singing to each other, against the background of gentle ocean waves…I seat in my sound-station with my tamboura, tune-in the drone, and chant Noom and Ah for 21 minutes, or more. I become just “A Voice – Whoever is Singing through Me.” This daily practice connects to a direct lineage of teachings of Dhrupad-raga music which awakens pure nature, and I have been practicing, teaching, and performing for more than 30 years.

What personal or professional accomplishments are you most proud of?

Since 1988, being the founder and artistic director of the International Vox Mundi Project and School of Sound and the Voice, which is alive and well with centers across the world, preserving the purity of unusual vocal arts and cross-cultural music healing traditions and innovation. In 2006, I created the premier Certificate and Masters on Sound, Voice and Music in the Healing Arts offered by an academic institution like the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Teaching and facilitating The Open Center SMI since its inception. I enjoy gathering and traveling with students from every corner of the world to continuously spread and evolve the field of sacred sound, and of course; having one of my 16 albums getting a Grammys®’nomination, that is/was a big one!.