Aimée is a musician, song-leader and storyteller. She has an invigorating teaching style, and “got pocket” percussion and guitar skills. Aimée’s work as a song-leading and storyteller have woven her into an ever widening community of cultural shifters around the country in the realms of sustainable agriculture, alternative education, community living, healing, creativity, and spiritual exploration – all of which are reflected in the songs that she carries. As a song-leader, Aimée has been an integral part of the Singing Alive! gatherings and often co-leads with Laurence Cole.

Alyx Somas is a 2S Native North American of multiple tribal and detribalized peoples. Rooted in life-honoring ancestral teachings, they walk as a Culture Tender and Re-indigenization Practitioner and Liberationist, guiding communities to re-member our truest human natures and to restore relationship with lineage, land, and kinship-based lifeways.

Raised by a family of 200+ kin, and carrying a background in collective movements and eco-somatic healing, they offer ceremonies, workshops, public speaking, consultation, 1:1 sessions, and mentorship in ancestral healing, cross-cultural repair + coalition, belonging-based decolonial systems, and grief, heart healing, + initiation work. Training for elderhood, they hold strong belief in all people’s dignified ancestry, innate ability to heal, and inherent belonging within the whole.

Amanda West is a song catcher/writer, ritualist, community leader, mother and ever-evolving human. In a lifetime devoted to music and healing, she has brought song to the thresholds of birth and death, life rituals, spiritual centers, community gatherings, album recordings, festivals and performances throughout the West Coast and parts of Europe. She understands our world to be full of both collapse and possibility, and is passionate about cultivating resilience and hope during this time of collective re-birthing on planet earth.

Arnaé Batson is a Grammy nominated singer, songwriter, culture carrier and proud preserver of Black American musical traditions. She uses music, song and storytelling to empower and inspire lovers of singing to reawaken their vocal joy and create spiritual pathways for healing.

Arnaé is grateful for every opportunity to build connections and provide the musical salve necessary for the healing of personal and social wounds for all who are willing.

Bex Lipps (they/them/she) is a queer & nonbinary artist, song carrier, facilitator, performer, and mental health therapist.

A firm believer in the power of art, music, and creativity to foster individual and collective healing, they bring their electric energy and love of authentic, embodied expression to community singing and their own musical artistry.

Guided by the wisdom of movements for liberation, Bex delights in holding spaces that honor the vulnerability of our human experience with a reverence for ritual and a healthy dose of humor & playfulness.

Brain Judd has been leading sing-alongs around the campfire and with groups for many years. Five decades of music have given him a deep reservoir of songs that he can strum, feed the words and lead in full voiced singing. Playing with many bands and leading youth and adult choirs has taught him how to bring people together through song. If you’ve been to Song Village you’ve probably sung with Brian around meal time or hearing him back up Tim and Amy as part of Just Love.

Play, Connect, and Come Alive: Laughter Yoga for Joyful Connection

This fun, experiential class invites you to release mental/emotional overload and reconnect to joy through playful movement, breath, and intentional laughter. Grounded in neuroscience, Laughter Yoga helps activate positive neuroplasticity—shifting mood, reducing stress hormones, and boosting feel-good chemistry. We will connect, play and laugh together, strengthening positive bonding with self and others. Come as you are and rediscover how play, joy, and fun in community can awaken energy, resilience, and aliveness. Your grief and heaviness is welcome here!

Colin T Connor earned his BFA in dance at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music in Boston and has performed dance and music internationally. He leads Santa Cruz’s Música do Círculo practice group and is founder of CoCoWorks, a global consulting firm focused on communications, culture and branding.

Debbie Nargi-Brown is a gifted community song leader and a talented singer-songwriter, she offers her songs with love, compassion, and the hope of bringing joy and healing to others. Debbie’s lyrics and melodies are sung all over the world. She writes songs for the heart, healing, transformation, love, grief, and all that connects us as human beings. Bringing people together in dance and song is one of her greatest joys in life! Debbie is happy to give back to Song Village again this year as a volunteer on the planning committee.

Where to listen to Debbie’s music:

AND ON ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS-Spotify, Apple music, itunes etc.

Dodie Whitaker, a multifaceted performing artist, activist and educator, brings infectious enthusiasm and over 40 years of musical experience to strengthen and empower communities and create lasting systemic change. Based in Wisconsin’s Driftless Region, Dodie combines music, social justice, and community building to foster inclusivity and racial equity through education, advocacy and collaborative singing.

From childhood nonsense songs to High school choirs, voice lessons, and family singalongs, Eliza has found joy in singing her entire life. In recent years, Eliza revived her longtime love of Sacred Singing in community through Dance Ceremony and Song Circles around the Bay Area. Her experience includes: Voice Work for Actors, Somatic Movement training, Ceremony Facilitation, Leadership in Women’s Circles and Song Circles, and a decade of studying Energy through movement and voice. She sings while she dances and loves to move while she sings!

Eliza is also a Mom of two young adults, a dedicated Ecstatic Dancer, a plant lover, a trained Ceremonialist and someone who has given up all efforts to control her hair.

Gretchen Sleicher is a singer, songwriter and songleader who lives in Port Townsend, where she leads Song Bird Choir and is active in Singing Resistance. Her original songs are largely inspired by wild nature in her Cascadia homeland. She’s worked extensively with Joanna Macy, and delights in weaving group singing and harmony-making into facilitation of the interactive group processes of the Work That Reconnects.

Rooted deeply in Santa Cruz, CA, Heather has devoted her life to revealing the essence of Love through singing. She is a spirited chant and song circle leader, renowned vocal coach, acclaimed songwriter and recording artist known for her soulful voice and passion for community building.

Karly Loveling honors the whole joyous, messy, confusing, ecstatic, and heart-wrenching experience of being human in her work as a songleader, songwriter, and a permissionary of heartfelt expression. As part of the Ubuntu Choir Network, she leads a community singing group called Singing Heart Harmonies in Eugene, Oregon, and online. Karly has been a featured songleader at Community Singing gatherings across the United States, and is looking forward to leading her second retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs this Summer. Her often playful, meaningful, layered songs are being sung in groups in at least 15 countries worldwide. Hear some of them here. You can support Karly and hear new songs by joining her Patreon community.

Katie Sontag (she/they) writes and teaches nourishing songs that heal and support us. Her welcoming, trusting presence provides her circles with a safe space to grieve, celebrate, feel and be authentically together. She is a true believer in the profound healing powers of music in community. Her prolific songwriting reminds us of simple yet profound truths. Through rounds, part songs, harmonies and unison, we will revive our belonging and leave with a sense of true self worth. At Katie’s song circles, you will laugh, cry, make new friends, and feel better than when you came. Her music has been described as “a big hug.” Katie’s songs have traveled all over the country and Canada. She is also a singer/songwriter, a seasoned performer and a music educator.

Kele Nitoto is a second generation African-American percussionist and singer. Born and raised in the Oakland Dance Culture, Kele Has studied with Masters of many styles, becoming proficient in West-African, Congolese, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Peruvian, and Afro-Haitian traditional musics. Over the last 25 years, Kele has performed throughout the country in dance companies, bands, and teaching workshops and classes, summer camps, spiritual and workplace retreats, and for countless ceremonies and celebrations.

Playing with such artists as Lydia Violet and the Thrive Choir, Kele has performed and recorded with the likes of MaMuse, Climbing Poetry, Rising Appalachia, Melanie DeMore, and Esperanza Spaulding.

Kid Beyond is a soul singer, songleader, Buddhist teacher, and soul guide. He is devoted to helping hearts open to love, aliveness, wisdom, and healing.

He has riveted audiences at festivals such as Coachella and SXSW — and opened for James Brown, Ray Charles, the Neville Brothers, Imogen Heap, Michael Franti, LL Cool J, and many more.

He’s led song circles and workshops in vocal exploration and embodiment for over 30 years, at venues worldwide.

He leads two monthly circles in SF: Song Circle Magic, with his beloved Elise Divine — and SOULSONG, weaving singing with meditation in ceremony.

Kira (she/her) is a song-carrier/choir leader/songwriter residing in Bend, Oregon. With a passion for building rich tapestries of sound with parts and harmonies that are accessible to all, she brings her heart to nurturing fun, connective, and soulful experiences. She leads Voices Rising Community Choir and at singing gatherings around the country. Kira attended the Ubuntu Network’s Community Choir Leadership Training & Lisa Littlebird’s Songleader Flight School.

Kjersten Hallin (She/They) Beauty Activist, Earth Lover, Eco-Edutainer, Song Carrier, Waste-rument Drum Maker, Grief Tender, Ritualist, Mother and Co-Creatrix of Cascadia Song Rise, sharing CommUnity BlesSings song weaving on Kalapuyan land throughout Willamette Valley. Kjersten offers gifts of song as ritual communion with the living world, with an alive sense of wonder and deep appreciation for the beauty and complexity of this time and space we inhabit together.

For decades, Kristin has met her world with purpose, play, creativity and community as her guides. She draws on the frameworks, principles and skills of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), Work That Reconnects and JEDI/DEI work to meet the needs of those who are looking to build trust and relationality. Threshold Choir, community singing and poetry are central to her creation of spaces to mourn and heal, not alone, but in community.

Singing and expressing music infuses my life with joy, warmth, and enthusiasm. As a versatile multi-instrumentalist, song catcher, and song carrier, I share my musical talents in singing circles, vision circles, and with aspiring young musicians. My deep appreciation for the intricate relationship between song and culture enhances the richness of the music I create and share. With music as my muse, my goal is to support spiritual seekers on their path to wellness and receiving their own inner guidance. As a team we can help to create a more embodied and joyful version of our paths in this human realm.

Marti directs Santa Cruz Threshold Singers; the local chapter of Threshold Choir Int’l, an organization committed to bring songs of comfort, ease and presence to anyone at a threshold of change in their life. We have chapters in countries all around the world. Marti designed and delivered training materials for schools and high-tech and more recently retired from a 2nd career as a free-lance writer and massage therapist working with injury recovery and chronic pain management.. She currently directs choir and teaches watercolor classes.

Marv Zauderer (he/they) leads the Joyful Voices Chorus community choir and the All In Song Circle and is co-organizer of Singing Resistance Marin on unceded Coast Miwok land in Marin County, California. He loves the magic of singing together, magic that can connect us deeply and uniquely with each other and exquisitely bridge so many divides in this more-than-human world. He is passionate about co-creating spaces for singing that are safe, welcoming, and easy for anyone to join in and feel alive, connected, well held, and uplifted.

Melanie DeMore is a 3-time Grammy-nominated singer/composer, choral conductor, music director and vocal activist who believes in the power of voices raised together. In her presentations, DeMore beautifully brings her participants together through her music and commentary. DeMore facilitates vocal and stick pounding workshops for professional choirs, community groups, as well as directing numerous choral organizations across the U.S, Canada and beyond. She is a featured presenter of SpeakOut!-The Institute for Social and Cultural Change, works with everyone from Baptists to Buddhists and was a founding member of the Grammy-nominated ensemble, Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir. She has received numerous awards for her work in the community, including the Children’s Music Network Award for her contribution to the singing community. She is the Music Director for Obeah Opera by Nicole Brooks with performances in Toronto, South Africa and Barbados. She is a charter member of the Threshold Choirs and conducts song circles with an emphasis on the voice as a vessel for healing. In her own words: “A song can hold you up when there seems to be no ground beneath you”.

Michael Glusman has been playing drums for over 40 years. He has studied with several African master drummers and he has been playing for African dance classes in Santa Cruz for decades. He is a featured percussionist on several albums and has drummed for song circles for years. Michael brings the rhythm, joy and magic to any gathering of song and dance.

Naomi Griffin Self (she/her) is an ever-evolving human, songleader, arts-lover, life coach, creative, and community leader, living and loving on the unceded land of the Cherokee people otherwise known as the Chattanooga, TN area on Turtle Island. For many years she regularly attended The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY where she shared in the art of creating community through exploring songs, rhythms, chants, and harmonies in the “Singing in the Stream” workshop led by Maggie Wheeler and Emile Hassan Dyer. Naomi longs for a world in which we listen deeply to one another, celebrate diversity, and promote peace and justice as together we create thoughtful melodies and harmonies that make our lives and our world a more nurturing space for all.

Teaching songs to attend to a wide variety of topics and emotional realities, Naomi facilitates singing to awaken heart, voice, and body in these beautiful circles that she carefully curates and joyfully facilitates. Naomi invites you to open your heart, mind, mouth, and diaphragm to the possibilities you will create in your own life. Your voice deserves to be heard however it shows up.

Rev Deborah L. Johnson MBA is the author of The Sacred YES and Your Deepest Intent and is the founder of Inner Light Ministries and Unleashing Our Future. From Fortune 500 clients to community organizing, her message is always one of inclusion, empowerment, and possibilities.

Ríomas (RiYo for short, they/them), previously known as Shireen Amini, is a queer, transmasculine, Puerto Rican-Iranian artist and immigrant settler based in Portland, Oregon creating at the intersection of music, healing, and cultural change. Drawing upon pop and folk soul textures, gratefully and foundationally from Black and Afro-Latin lineages, they craft artful, participatory songs that invite realness, joy, and transformative energy.

Sara (she/her) is a song leader, song carrier and song writer and has always felt most at home when singing. Over the years, Sara has been a part of many musical collaborations and gratefully found the “secret sauce” of the community singing world in 2015. Sara loves to help create joyful and nurturing singing spaces for all voices and delights in finding the right music medicine for the moment. Sara especially enjoys helping newer or tentative singers find trust and comfort with their voices and their place in the circle.

Sara is a founding member and co-leader of The Living Room Choir in El Cerrito, CA with Kaitie Ty Warren and is a member of The Ubuntu Choirs Network. Sara co-leads a smaller ensemble “Grace Notes” with Deborah Leeds and leads an activism song group called TIO (Taking It Outside).

Song Village Co-Founder

Tim (Santa Cruz) is a songwriter and original instigator of Song Village. His band, Just Love, has recorded four CDs of sweet/vulnerable/spiritual songs. You can hear some at the Just Love website.

Victoria Angel Heart is a sacred musician, medicine woman and passionate pleasure permissionary dedicated to empowering folx to embrace intimacy within themselves, the Divine, and all their relations.

Described as “hypnotic hymns” for dropping you from your thinking mind deep into your heartspace, Victoria’s songs take you into the eternal now, where you experience a timeless, loving presence. Her voice is sweet, her melodies will enchant you, and her arrangements will have you playing her songs on repeat. She’s a Möonbabe Records artist and a student of the late Michael Stillwater and Debbie Nargi Brown.

Yuri Woodstock wants life to become more of a musical. A teacher of simple back-pocket songs, as well as complex layered polyphonic compositions, there is always a right song for the moment, and for the group. The goal is to maximize enjoyment and interconnectivity for the singers in the experience of vocal harmony. Yuri Leads the Hark! Community Choir in Asheville, NC, and attended the Community Choir Leadership Training in Victoria., BC. Website.

Song Village Organizer

Sarah MacEwan (she/her), aka The Singing Therapist, is the gratefully imperfect organizer of Song Village, on a mission to heal and be healed through creative self-expression. As a psychotherapist, singer, storyteller and grief-tender, Sarah brings her open heart and emotional expertise to every circle she facilitates. Sing with her in Santa Cruz at her Singing Heals Song Circles, or join her for the healing at healingishappening.com.

Theresa wants every day to be filled with song & joyful noise. A mother of two, she moves through the world as a song carrier, dancer, caregiver and advocate. She believes that singing is a birthright and that when we raise our voices together, something profound happens: relationships deepen, courage takes root and we remember our belonging to one another & to this earth. Her roots run deep in community care through Mutual Aid networks, AAPI support circles, Traditional Ecological Knowledge programs & intersectional solidarity work — and of course, lots of singing & dancing! She facilitates Compassionate Resilience & Somatic Skills groups, guiding people home to themselves and to each other through movement, sound & guided imagery — and brings that same intention to her work in grant management and as a board member of the ACLU of Northern California. This year, Theresa is supporting the village by stewarding registration & work exchange.

Ilana thinks and speaks in song! For her, Song Village feels like a unique place on Earth where everyone is speaking her first language – song! As a 5th grade public school teacher, a mother, wife, friend, song carrier, and community-tender, Ilana strives to see the very best in every person, and to cultivate a felt sense of connection, purpose, belonging and joy. She also loves spending time in nature, weaving baskets from natural materials gathered in the wild and grown in her garden – singing all the while. She is beyond grateful to give her time to help steward Song Village, her home away from home.

Whitney cannot get over the power of singing in community, especially outdoors in nature, to unlock her embodied sense of deep connection to all living things and to spirit. As the Executive Director of Life Lab, Whitney has led educator workshops, school garden conferences, and leadership institutes nationwide for over 20 years. She also loves spending time with her husband, son, family, and close friends, swimming, surfing, and adventuring in nature. Whitney is grateful for the opportunity to continue learning, and to bring what she has learned so far about designing gatherings that center equity and cultivate collective effervescence, into her volunteer role on the Song Village planning team.

(pictured singing with her mom)

Lydia Neilsen is a Permaculture educator, landscape designer and installer with a Permaculture Teaching Diploma from the Permaculture Institute of North America (PINA), and is currently seeking an MSc in Biomimicry from Arizona State University. She holds a BA in Biology and Studio Art from Carleton College and a Professional Certification in Natural Science Illustration from UC Santa Cruz. Lydia started her Permaculture career with Penny Livingston in 2006 and co-taught with Penny for over 10 years. In 2019 she co-founded Vital Cycles Permaculture with Anne Freiwald, and she has taught Permaculture all over the Bay Area with various other organizations.

Lydia’s business, Rehydrate the Earth, specializes in water management solutions using earthworks, greywater and rainwater harvesting systems, with a strong emphasis on water cycle and habitat restoration and CA native plants. Lydia’s passion is educating and connecting people to climate solutions through a deeper understanding of how our planet and our water cycle works, regulating temperature and weather through the interactions of water, soil and forests. Graphic Recording is a fairly new endeavor for Lydia and she is excited to be sharing these skills at Eco Farm!

Kitchen Crew Leader

Amy Herzog is a lifelong singer and self-proclaimed harmonizer. Her first Song Village experience five years ago opened a deep connection to her roots. While singing Ma Muse’s “River Song,” she felt a portal open to her late father—a barbershop quartet singer—and the music became more spiritual than ever.

Amy has served on the kitchen crew for four years and is honored to step back into a leadership role this year. She is grateful to be part of this vibrant, harmonious community where voices, hearts, and hands come together in song and service.

Amie has been singing in song circles since 2002, but only just discovered Song Village last year. She was completely captivated by the harmony and delight created at Camp Loma and decided that she needed to get more deeply involved any way she could. So, as a creative director, graphic and web designer, she realized she could offer her skills to Sarah and the organizing committee to create the new website and a revamped registration process. It has been such a joy working together to achieve this goal. She and Sarah met regularly, where each work session started and ended with Sarah leading them in song. After a lifetime of working with more conventional clients, this process felt like magic. Please say hello to her, and let her know how they can continue to improve the website and the registration process.