3rd Annual Sisters in Harmony RETREAT and/or Live Song Leader TRAINING

Thursday June 27th - Sunday June 30th, 2023

An ALL INCLUSIVE women's singing retreat AND Live Song Leader Training at the stunning Green Mountain Retreat center in the Santa Cruz Mountains!

Please join Heather Houston with special guest artists - Melanie DeMore, Becky Reardon, Debbie Nargi-Brown, AHLAY Blakely, Kaitie Ty Warren and Amanda West!

Immerse yourself in sacred sisterhood, song, meditation, ritual, nature, a swimming pool, and hiking trails. We’ll be singing together in one big group the entire weekend, with the exception of a round robin session where we will break into smaller groups and YOU will have the opportunity to lead and learn songs from the other participants. (Don't worry, leading a song is optional!) :)

Fill your cup with songs that open your heart and uplift your spirit!

Add-On - LIVE SONG LEADER TRAINING ~ Sunday June 30th - Tuesday July 2nd

This year I am excited to announce that I am adding two additional days at the end of the retreat for those that wish to join my Live Song Leader Training.

• Gain the tools you need to lead your community in heart-opening songs
• Practice leading songs with your sisters in harmony
• Fill your pockets with songs that inspire, uplift, and connect us deeply to the human experience

*You must sign up seperately for this training by also selecting the Add-On Live Song Leader Training ticket upon check-out. Please select the same housing type as you have during the retreat or we will move you and contact you to pay the difference prior to arrival.

Food

Organic, locally sourced, gluten-free meals.

Lodging

Dorm rooms and cottages. If mobility is a concern please choose the dorm rooms which have first floor accessible rooms. Cottages require walking on uneven footing over a hillside. Dorm rooms have individual a/c units. Cottages are shaded but do not have a/c units. Both dorms and cottages have windows that open for fresh air.

Private beds in shared dorm rooms and cottages are available. Limited single rooms are also available. All accommodations include shared bathrooms.

No camping in tents, RV's, or vans are allowed on site.

Directions to the retreat center will be emailed to registrants a week prior to the event.

Ride Shares: We will create a private Facebook page for registered participants only to arrange ride shares and to connect and make roommate choices prior to the retreat.

Transportation: It's easy to take shuttles and Ubers from the San Jose airport.

Covid/Illness Protocol:

Masks and distancing are at your discretion. If you test positive for COVID before the retreat and need to cancel, you will be refunded minus a $100 administrative fee.

If someone contracts COVID during the retreat, we will have a space for them to isolate, and we will likely move the rest of the retreat outdoors.

If you are sick before the retreat, COVID or otherwise, please get in touch with us to discuss refund options. Our goal is to keep our community healthy!

Tentative Schedule

(Subject to change)

Thursday:

● 3:00 pm - Welcome to arrive and get settled in

● 6:00 pm - Dinner

● 7:15 - 9:00 pm - Welcome Song Circle

● 10:00 pm - 7:00 am - Quiet hours

Friday:

● 7:00 - 7:50 am - Qi Gong with Beth Freewoman in Redwood Grove

● 8:00 - 9:00 am - Breakfast

● 9:15 - 12:00 - Morning Singing Session

● 12:00 - 1:00 pm - Lunch

● 1:15 - 5:15 pm - Afternoon Singing Session

● 5:00 - 6:00 pm - Free Time

● 6:00 - 7:15 pm - Dinner

● 7:15 - 9:00 pm - Evening Session

● 10:00 pm - 7:00 am - Quiet hours

Saturday

● 7:00 - 7:50 am - Qi Gong with Beth Freewoman

● 8:00 - 9:00 am - Breakfast

● 9:15 - 12:00 - Morning Session

● 12:00 - 2:00 - Lunch and Free Time

● 2:00 - 5:00 - Afternoon Round Robin Sessions

● 4:30 - 5:00 - Free Time

● 5:00 - 6:00 - SILENT TIME

● 6:00 - 7:00 - Dinner

● 7:15 - 9:00 - Evening Session

● 10:00 pm - 7:00 am - Quiet Time

Sunday

● 7:00 - 7:50 am - Qi Gong with Beth Freewoman

● 8:00 - 9:00 am - Breakfast

● 9:00 - 10:00 - Pack up and be out of room

● 10:00 - 12:00 - Closing Session

● 12:00 - 1:00- Goodbys / Clean up / Off property by 1:00

● NO LUNCH Unless you are staying for the Song Leader Training - BRING SNACK

Song Leader Training begins at 7:00 pm on Sunday and ends on Tuesday morning at noon.

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ABOUT the Facilitators:

Alexandra "ahlay" Blakely

AHLAY is an Ashkenazi, Scandinavian singer-songwriter, grief tender, community organizer, and ceramicist walking the path of ancestral healing and the reclaiming of lost cultural memories. Her community singing album, Spells from the Unknown encapsulates songs for the community to transform, ask questions, and seek to lead lives that might make us ancestors worth honoring. Her upcoming 2024 community singing album, WAILS: Songs for Grief was recorded in July 2023 with a choir of 200 voices. The album is completely dedicated to grief, inspired by the Whales and Frances Weller’s “the five gates of grief.”

Amanda West

Amanda is an award-winning singer, songwriter, song-circle leader, music teacher and mother. She is co-founder of Womb Song, U.S., an organization that supports women into motherhood through music. She understands music to be a part of our human birthright, playing an essential role in our experience of being alive, and has found her life-path and greatest joy through sharing music with others.

Becky Reardon

Becky's voice is familiar to the millions of people who heard her sing on the Charlie Brown TV specials (Charles Schultz called her his favorite singer!). She performed in folk venues in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years before moving to New Mexico and making the shift to writing, performing, and teaching her own compositions. Now her songs and rounds are widely sung by community choruses, song circles, university choirs, and people out for a walk in the beautiful world. Becky is currently writing a musical about a women’s singing circle.

Debbie Nargi-Brown

For over 3 decades, Debbie Nargi-Brown has been leading dancing and singing in Santa Cruz and beyond; teaching African-inspired dance classes, leading Community Sings as well as facilitating retreats and workshops. She writes songs for the heart, for healing, for transformation, for love, for grief and all those things that connects us as human beings. Bringing people together in dance and song is one of her greatest sources of joy!

Heather Houston

Born with voice full of heart and soul, Central Coast Californian Heather Houston is passionate about uplifting spirits, freeing voices, and building strong, loving communities through the power of singing. Heather is a community choir directing virtuoso and vocal coach extraordinaire with over 20-years experience writing and producing music, leading song circles, and offering life transforming events at venues like Esalen and 1440 Multiversity. In these trying times, Heather continues to spread her magic through her multiple online offerings - The Art of Mindful Singing, Singing as Sanctuary, S.H.E. Sings, Sisters in Harmony Song and Chant Leader Training, and her Sisters in Harmony Global drop-in series with guest artists and song leaders. You can find her music on all of the streaming platforms.

Kaitie Ty Warren

Kaitie Ty Warren (she/they) is a Bay Area-based song leader, teacher, writer, and performer. Passionate about creating collective experiences through music, she teaches by call and response and emphasizes playfulness as a form of resistance. In 2015 she founded Living Room Choir, which survived the move to Zoom through the pandemic and recently re-opened as Living Room Choir ANEW, co-led by Sara Stutz. Kaitie is a member of the Ubuntu Choirs Network, which believes it's everybody's birthright to sing. KaitieTyWarren.com; TheLivingRoomChoir.com

Melanie DeMore

Singer-songwriter Melanie DeMore has a remarkable voice, weaving the fibers of African American folk music with soulful ballads, spirituals, and her own original music. DeMore beautifully brings her audience together through her music and commentary. She has toured extensively, singing at festivals, universities, coffee houses, and concert halls. Her recordings, "Share My Song" and "Come Follow Me," are both heartfelt collections of her music.

Beth Freewoman (Chi Gong)

(she/her/hers) is the owner of The Open Hearth–Tools for Self-Healing(www.IAmTheOpenHearth.com). With her passion for holistic health and her confidence in thebody’s self-healing capacity, she shares the practice of Qigong with enthusiasm and the intention to empower. Not only is she certified as a Holden Qi Gong teacher, (by Lee Holden), she is an advanced student of Dr. Joe Dispenza, integrating the healing power of meditation and coherence into her own health and well-being practices. She currently lives in Santa Cruz, CA.

Tickets:

Paid in FULL and Payment Plans are available.

Payment Plans: To register for a payment plan please email my assistant at nataliesjewels@yahoo.com for a personalized registration code.

Early Bird: Payment Plan costs $50 administrative fee above paid-in-full price. A deposit of 50% holds your place; with a 25% payment due April 1st, and the remaining 25% balance due May 1st.

On-Time Bird: Payment Plan costs $50 administrative fee above paid-in-full price. A deposit of 50% holds your place; with a 25% payment due May 1st, and the remaining 25% balance due June 1st.

*Note: The iPhone app for Eventbrite no longer supports ticket sales so please register through a web browser if you are having difficulties registering.

Cancelation Policy:

Cancellations between now and April 30th are refundable minus a $100 administrative fee.

Cancellations between May 1st and June 1st are 50% refundable to cover the costs of the retreat already paid.

Cancellations after June 1st are non-refundable.

At any time you are welcome to gift your place at the retreat to someone else, of your choosing. There will be a $50 administrative fee to do so (payable by you or them.)

If you test positive for COVID prior to the retreat, you will be refunded minus a $100 administrative fee. If you are sick prior to the retreat, COVID or otherwise, please contact us to discuss refund options. Our goal is to keep our community healthy!

IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING REFUNDS: Eventbrite does not refund the ticket processing fees charged by them. We will refund you our event ticket fee minus $100 if requested by April 30th, but you will not receive a refund from Eventbrite for your ticket processing fees. https://www.eventbrite.com/help/en-us/articles/548304/is-the-eventbrite-fee-refundable/

If we cancel on you:

Full refund minus $50 administrative fee. The $50 helps us recover some of the expenses we have already made, and the time and resources we have spent tracking your registration and housing requests.

What to Bring:

• Earplugs (If you're a sensitive sleeper)
• Snacks (Especially for Sunday. We need to be off campus by one, so no lunch will be provided that day. There are restaurants within a 20-minute drive from our venue.)
• Water bottle
• Travel mug
• Flashlight/headlamp
• Comfortable layers of clothing that you can move and breathe in
• Good walking shoes
• Hiking shoes if you'd like to hike on the property
• Shower/pool shoes
• Bathing suit (clothing optional pool area)
• Towel for the pool (shower towels are provided)
• Sunglasses
• Sun hat
• Warm hat
• Sunscreen
• Toiletries
• Journal
• An item for our collective altar - something that you want to charge up with the powerful energy of our time together and take home with you as a reminder.