Agile Vocalist

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The sound of bells in towers is a common experience to many around the world. But the reality is there is an entire profession devoted to carillons-- actual lever and pedal instruments that make the sounds you hear. Carillons exist all over the U.S., Europe and the world and are commonly heard from the top of towers and built structures.

This interview features Simone Browne, professional carillonist and UC Berkeley student who shares how she found the profession and its effect on the audible world immediately around the instruments. 

More about Agile Vocalist, including artist biographies, liner notes and additional visual material for every episode can be found on the Agile Vocalist web site. 

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Janet Koike is the Founder of Rhythmix Cultural Works in Alameda, California. She is also the Artistic Director of Maze Daiko ensemble. In this episode she shares her journey from textile fashion design to tap dance to playing taiko, the Japanese drum. Janet's experiences bringing remind us all of the alluring power of sound, how artists are ambassadors for new paradigms, and the power of community that can be created when you bring performing art forms together.  

Note: An earlier version of this episode was published Dec. 30, 2023 but the episode has now been corrected in her bio about her relationship with San Francisco Taiko Dojo.

More about Agile Vocalist, including artist biographies, liner notes and additional visual material for every episode can be found on the Agile Vocalist web site. 

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• Support Agile Vocalist, a privately funded labor of love dedicated to the arts! Leave a tip here. 

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Have you ever pondered what it might be like to experience a moment of tranquility amidst the chaos of daily life? Melissa Felsenstein, the founder of Innersounds Meditation, reveals how sound healing can be your haven. Melissa used this therapeutic technique to conquer her personal battles with anxiety and depression, but she's also refined it into a unique formula to certify a new generation of sound practitioners.

Sound healing has many benefits including healing the nervous system and creating calm to allow the body to work better. Melissa provides an insider's look at her 200-hour professional sound healing practitioner course, designed to equip aspiring practitioners to become a professional sound healers. We talk about the process of crafting crystal bowls and gongs and the differences between them. 

From achieving meditative states, reducing insomnia, to balancing chakras, Melissa lets listeners taste the experience: at the end of the episode there is a mini sound bath. 

More about Agile Vocalist, including artist biographies, liner notes and additional visual material for every episode can be found on the Agile Vocalist web site. 

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What does it take to synchronize light and sound? Co-creators Rob Jensen and Warren Trezevant, talk about their work creating Sonic Runway, an art installation conceived at Burning Man. Sonic Runway immerses the spectator in colorful synchronized visuals that animate the speed of sound.

Hear the story behind their meticulous creation process, making the exhibit first for Burning Man in 2003 and how its success grew to transform it into a traveling exhibit to sites around the U.S., England, Canada, and finally to a replicated exhibit in Chengdu China.

Listen in as we explore the myriad ways the Sonic Runway has reshaped the perception of sound for thousands of people around the world. Sonic Runway is a communal experience that has left audiences smiling, marveling and connecting with each other. Watch and listen to the Runway in action here. 

More visuals and information about this episode can be found at: https://agilevocalist.com/2023/10/01/watching-sound-t…warren-trezevant/

More about Agile Vocalist, including artist biographies, liner notes and additional visual material for every episode can be found on the Agile Vocalist web site. 

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• Support Agile Vocalist, a privately funded labor of love dedicated to the arts! Leave a tip here. 

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What did you do this summer? What's left still to experience? Better yet, what did you hear? July is a liminal space and time to dive into the creative. This summer soundscape is an annual season pause so you can listen to July. Traveling through California, Oregon, and landing in Washington at performing arts family camp, you're invited to come along for the auditory ride. 

Catch up with any Agile Vocalist episodes you may have missed now as new episodes start rolling out again in September.  

More about Agile Vocalist, including artist biographies, liner notes and additional visual material for every episode can be found on the Agile Vocalist web site. 

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In 2007, Tommy Soulati Shepard and Kaitlin McGaw formed Alphabet Rockers to make music that makes change. This episode discusses how they met, the wide variety of their performing backgrounds and how they, 3 professional children artists and a host of other artist collaborators use hip hop to put a child's experience at the heart of its message. 

The Alphabet Rockers mission is to create music that disrupts racism, educates and fills children and adults with messages of hope and joy.  Tommy and Kaitlin talk about how a parent's role is so important in nurturing a child's growth and confidence. Their work encourages both children and adults to reflect on their own experiences, actions, non-actions and to ponder the role of silence.

More about Agile Vocalist, including artist biographies, liner notes and additional visual material for every episode can be found on the Agile Vocalist web site. 

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Exposed to cello at an early age, Cellista broke away from her classical cellist training to follow her calling to create and collaborate with other art forms including beatboxers, spoken word artists, dancers, and musicians. Her work continues to reflect on and engage the cultural circumstances she experiences around her and she produces what she calls stage poems inspired by French Realists that include pillars of music, film, dance and literature. 

Liner notes and more information about this episode can be found at: https://agilevocalist.com/2023/05/21/taking-cello-to-vibrations-with-cellista/

More about Agile Vocalist, including artist biographies, liner notes and additional visual material for every episode can be found on the Agile Vocalist web site. 

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• Support Agile Vocalist, a privately funded labor of love dedicated to the arts! Leave a tip here. 

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Season 2 has concluded. This episode is how you can (wherever you are!) share in the podcast festivities (listening, sending me an email). Listen as I review the guests we had over the past year, sing you a little song, and recognize some of the amazing people who've supported me in this journey. Season 3 is coming!

Listen and then send me an email- this podcast is now big enough that I don't know who you are. Really! Tell me what you do while you listen. Be honest you podcast lullabye types! Hear my supporters and get a listen back to some of what this season's guests have shared.

I look forward to hearing from you in the pixels for a change!

More about Agile Vocalist, including artist biographies, liner notes and additional visual material for every episode can be found on the Agile Vocalist web site. 

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• Support Agile Vocalist, a privately funded labor of love dedicated to the arts! Leave a tip here. 

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Chelle Jacques is a career musician, bandleader, educator and more. In this episode she shares the story of her recently launched Daughters of the Delta Project featuring the musical contributions from the women artists of Louisiana we so rarely hear about. She also shares how she got involved with The Recording Academy, best known for producing the annual Grammy Awards. She now serves in a leadership position with the organization's California/Colorado chapter.

Hear about the business of art, Chelle's powers of manifestation, and her experience being an artist and an educator who has touched the lives of thousands via San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures in Music, Oakland School for the Arts, and more.

Liner notes for this episode can be found here.

More about Agile Vocalist, including artist biographies, liner notes and additional visual material for every episode can be found on the Agile Vocalist web site. 

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• Support Agile Vocalist, a privately funded labor of love dedicated to the arts! Leave a tip here. 

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I talked to Frida the parrot as she was on exhibit as part of a larger an immersive art experience. This Agile Vocalist episode dives into animal sounds and share a one-of-a-kind recording of my interactions with a parrot I went to “interview.” Our interactions proved some of the most varied from any she’d had with other humans, and it marveled her owners, the hosts and artists at San Francisco’s Gregangelo Museum.

Liner notes and more are available at:  https://agilevocalist.com/2022/12/30/animal-sounds-frida-and-metamorphosis/

More about Agile Vocalist, including artist biographies, liner notes and additional visual material for every episode can be found on the Agile Vocalist web site. 

• Follow Agile Vocalist on IG 
• Subscribe to Agile Vocalist on YouTube
• Support Agile Vocalist, a privately funded labor of love dedicated to the arts! Leave a tip here.