Gabriela Gómez spent many years mastering the fundamentals of music as a professional singer of baroque music, choir director and composer. She now offers profound workshops aimed at harnessing the unique power of sound to help people on their spiritual awakening journeys. We wrote about her in our Spring 2020 issue – read on to learn more.
music
We were thrilled to feature Earthsong in our Spring 2020 issue recently. We wanted to share this beautiful article by Ruth Pinson, in which she discusses the values of co-operation, balance and love that the Earthsong founders share. These are the values that will help move us forward as a human society.
Music is one of our most powerful methods of going beyond our limited perspectives and glimpsing our infinite natures. Music can help us to delve into our truth … and one woman who is passionate about facilitating that transcendental experience is Marta Lukaszewicz.
Rooted in the Land: Celtic School of Yoga Teacher Training
The Celtic School of Yoga is an inspirational school that focuses on tying together the spiritual traditions of Ireland and India. It was born out of founder Jack Harrison’s great love for yoga, as well as folklore and music. In February, he and Benita Wolfe will host the third Celtic School of Yoga Teacher Training in Kinvara, Co. Galway. We were excited to learn all about it, in this extract from our Winter 2019/20 issue!
Wonderful news, Positive Lifers: the renowned spiritual singer Deva Premal – one half of the legendary duo, Deva Premal and Miten – has been nominated for a Grammy award for her new album, DEVA. Click here to read our interview with Miten (featured in our Winter 2019/20 issue) and read on to learn more about Deva’s Grammy nomination!
Peia Luzzi is an American born song collector, write and multi-instrumentalist, drawing inspiration from her ancestral roots of Celtic and Old World European music, and folklore. With the voice of a lark, she dances nimbly between Child Ballads and 17th Century Gaelic laments, to Waulking Songs from Scotland, and old Bulgarian mountain wails. Peia has traveled extensively over the past ten years to uncover melodies wrinkled and wise with time, labouring faithfully to honour their language, stories and original essence.
She is a powerful voice in the rising global community of people who are committed to restoring a balanced relationship with the Earth. Peia expresses her holistic vision and passion through her music, educational workshops and advocacy for indigenous and environmental rights groups.
Born in the back hills of Connecticut, Peia spent most of her childhood playing in the forests and hiding out in tree tops. In 2002 she moved to Boston where she attended New England Conservatory of Music on a generous scholarship and received extensive training in western classical voice and opera, vocal pedagogy, composition, and improvisation.
“My journey with world folksong traditions began many years ago while studying at New England Conservatory in Boston. Much to the dismay of my Opera professors, I found myself enthralled with the alluring beauty and mystery of traditional folk music. This fascination, along with a bit of old Irish wanderlust, poised me for a journey that led me to seek a lost culture and reconnect with the songs of my ancestors in ancient Europe.”
In 2012 Peia released her first solo album The Dance of Devotion, a profound collection of poetic love songs. Her second release Four Great Winds – a timeless journey through traditional and original sacred song – was self released in May 2013 and picked up by Sounds True for global release in 2015. Following the initial release of Four Great Winds, Peia gained international notoriety and requests for performances in Europe, Australia, Bali, Brazil and Canada. Her music has taken her around the world and sparked collaborations with many world class artists including: legendary poet and Rumi scholar Coleman Barks, author, mythologist and storyteller Michael Meade, Grammy Award winning pianist Peter Kater, Iranian tar master Ali Ghamsari and guitar virtuoso Estas Tonne.
Peia currently splits her time between touring and the lush, wild hills of Southern Oregon, where she wildcrafts herbal remedies, sings with Wild Honey – an all women’s world music trio – and teaches Song of the Ancients, voice cultivation and ancestral songline tracing. Fusing her knowledge of Vocal Pedagogy (The Science of the Voice) with the ancient meditative practice of Nada Yoga, she imparts upon her students the tools to harness the natural beauty and resonance of the voice.
We are thrilled to welcome her to Positive Nights on Thursday April 25th, from 7.30 to 9.30 p.m. in Bewley’s Café, 78/79 Grafton Street, Dublin 2. To book your tickets, click here.