MP3 Welcome Brigid - WORLD: World Traditions

mystical and celtic chant and song to the divine feminine

17 MP3 Songs
WORLD: World Traditions, FOLK: Traditional Folk



Details:
Katy Taylor and Amy Fradon, vocalists, composers, and musicians perform and compose together singing original and medieval chant and song that weaves celtic ornamentation with haunting, mystical chant and prayers. A capella and accompanied by medieval hurdy gurdy, flutes, and shruti box, Katy and Amy's purity of tone and musical depth not only inspires and transports, but connects us to our deepest sense of God-Self.

Katy has been singing since she was a child, starting her career at school talent shows and singing in chorus, school musicals, and church choirs. She has a Bachelors from Alfred University (Alfred, NY) in Performing Arts with a voice emphasis, where she studied voice classically. Katy later lived in Vienna, where she immersed herself in music and studied voice and German. Singing with Anima, a medieval women's group based in Vermont, introduced her to the music of 12th c. German mystic Hildegard von Bingen. This music made Katy feel like she had come home, into her body and voice as a channel for Spirit, and singing Hildegard's music became her passion. A few years after this, she began composing her own devotional music, finding that when inspired spiritually, music often wells up within her. Since then, she has been composing and performing a blend of Hildegard's music and her own original pieces. Katy has participated in the recording of two medieval CDs and two Shape Note CDs, as well as two featuring her own devotional music.

Amy started singing later in life, when she was in college at NYU as a dance major. She sang Neil Young songs in the stairwell and began to draw small crowds on the steps, which eventually spilled over into coffeehouses. She began teaching when she got a call from Omega Institute to lead a class in their summer program for staff. They wanted her to do sing-a-longs but Amy suggested sound and healing. Then in the late 1980's a woman called her up and asked Amy to teach her how to sing, which Amy agreed to try, and her career as a voice teacher was birthed. She finds helping others to midwife their connection to their voice, heart, and power to be one of the deepest and warmest, most inspiring journeys of her life. Since then, in addition to teaching voice, Amy has taught many workshops on singing and sound and healing, including starting a series of sacred space workshops called The Vocal Visionary Training, which include Vocal Visionary workshops, Building A Vocal Visionary Community: Sacred Performance Workshop, Finding The Voice Of The Feminine, and The Joy Of Harmony. Amy has penned and recorded numerous CDs in a wide variety of genres.

Katy and Amy are dear friends who love to spend time in each other's company. Making music together is one of the ways in which they can express their friendship/love for each other, while at the same time finding connection to God / Spirit. Katy and Amy sing because to sing is to be alive and present and connected to Spirit. While singing can be just pure fun, it can at the same time be a vehicle for profound and deep transformation and unfolding of Spirit. They both feel it has been one of their greatest teachers and deepest spiritual practices. They recently composed and recorded a Mass commissioned by the Foundation for Universal Sacred Music, and their Christmas CD "The Path: Medieval, Celtic, and Original Carols, Songs, and Chants for the Christmas Season" came out in December of 2004.