Annegret Baier is a German-born percussionist specializing in West African hand drumming. She received her classical music training in voice, violin and piano at the University of Music in Stuttgart, Germany. She has studied with several master drummers from Guinea, Cuba and Brazil and has done several residencies with her primary teacher Famoudou Konate in Conakry, Guinea.  Annegret teaches West African drumming classes, offers artist in residency programs in schools in Maine and New Hampshire and performs with several bands.

Patty Barkas has performed, recorded and toured nationally and internationally for over two decades, with an eclectic array of artists. She is one of Boston's premiere session singers, recording with Major label artists on Epic, Sony-Epic, Polygram, Ryco-disc, Sire and Reprise, as well as performing on film sound tracks, television features, commercials, Big Bands and Symphony Orchestras throughout the region.

Abigail Bottome has spent a life a lifetime seeking that balance between practical necessity and creativity. Her poems have been published in  Watershed, a literary publication of Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design, Larcom Review, Portfolio, and the Endicott Review. Her current work at Endicott College supports her commitment and passion for experiential learning through her role as internship coordinator and where she has taught journalism and public relations courses.  In her daily life she nurtures her soul through daily practice of meditation and reflective writing.

Maureen Chase, a native New Englander of Abenaki heritage, was ordained as a non-denominational minister at Harvard Divinity School and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art and English from Emmanuel College in Boston. She studied fine arts and theatre in Berlin, Germany and has also trained in photography at the Massachusetts College of Art and the Art Institute of Boston. She is also a certified instructor in SpiritSong.  

Maureen has worked extensively in the communications media including CBS Television, CBS Radio, New Age Journal, American Film Magazine, Cable Choice Magazine and Little, Brown & Company Publishers. She has also worked in the education field at Harvard Divinity School, the Education Development Center and Phillips Academy Andover.

For more info go to: http://wayofsong.com/join_start.htm 

With over three decades of combined experience with the labyrinth, Barb & Mia have led workshops and tours for labyrinth enthusiasts and novices in many venues, including the Parliament of the World’s Religions and Glastonbury England and for organizations including The Labyrinth Society and Labyrinth Guild of New England.  

            Mia Corinha has particular interest and expertise in combining NLP techniques and hypnotic language and cues to design meaningful labyrinth experiences. A past director of the Labyrinth Guild of New England, Mia holds a BA in Theatre Art and English from Clark University. She has led and co-led experiential labyrinth workshops for the Guild, the Labyrinth Society, and other venues in the US and abroad.

         Barb Ducharme has designed and led workshops in corporate, health care and religious settings, including the Parliament of the World’s Religions, The Labyrinth Society and Labyrinth Guild of New England (a not-for-profit educational organization she co-founded).  She has also constructed temporary and permanent labyrinths in a variety of designs and materials in the US and abroad.  In addition to her BA in psychology from Clark University, Barb holds an MBA from Simmons College and an EdM from Harvard University.

Site:  www.labyrinth-alchemy.com

Paula Estey is a mixed media painter, teacher and performance poet with a band called Temple Thieves.  Her Amesbury studio, NEW ART New World, is a center for creative energy, from the classes offered to the work being done there by Paula and her studio mates.  She has been Artist in Residence at Unity on the River Spiritual Center for more than ten years, bringing art consciousness to that community in the form of an art gallery, workshops and paintings. She offers workshops in spiritual art and art practices anywhere she is invited.

SITE:  www.paulaestey.com

CONTACT:  paula.estey@yahoo.com

Jane Goddard is a drummer, poet, and professional storyteller living in Andover, MA.  Teller of inspirational personal stories, Jane has performed at Three Apples Storytelling Festival, Brother Blue’s, and churches, schools, libraries, and bookstores in the northeast.  She leads monthly drumming circles at Rolling Ridge and the Locke Street Unitarian Church in Andover.

Therapist and college writing teacher since 1991, Lori Grace runs women’s writing groups and works with private clients.   Trained in counseling and possessing an MFA in writing, she studied, showed, and sold her visual art work in France and is published in The Sun, Earth Star Magazine, and online.

Site:   www.thewritespirit.org

Contact:  617-877-4291  -OR-  lgrace0702@gmail.com

Roberta Horsman is a wheat weaver and herbalist. Her teaching provides the opportunity for others to re-connect with the earth through creative expression. She has 19 years of teaching experience including, The Women’s Herbal Conference, and The International Herb Symposium. She has a Master of Arts Degree in Expressive Therapy from Lesley University.

Contact::   978-384-8055   -OR-    roberta444@comcast.net

Born north of Boston in a seaside Massachusetts town, Tammy Murawski cultivates her music, her art, and her guitar playing as a daily meditation. 

While often found on mountain tops, aside woodland streams, in rivers, along the beach, in fields and forests, she can be seen performing on park benches, sidewalks, hallways, living rooms, backyards, restaurants and the stage. 

She has studied both Jazz and Classical Guitar, as well as recording techniques at Berklee Music On Line.  She is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and currently writes and records her original music. Some of her influences include: Ghandi, Eckhart Tolle, Bonnie Raitt, Heart, Michael Hedges, Patty Larkin, her grandfather Edmond Peter Gillis, Ez, Nika, Cheyanne, and her current dog “Chico”. 

Sarah Pirtle, a Community Interfaith Minister, is the author of four peace education books including An Outbreak of Peace, Olive Branch Award Winner. As an eco-feminist, for thirty years she has led keynotes, conferences, and trainings. Her nine recordings focus on earth awareness; she received a Lifetime Achievement Award in children’s music, the Magic Penny. She worked closely with Joanna Macy for a decade. During thirty years of leading workshops for women, Sarah has developed a trust in how a caring group can support our heart-centering. 

SITE:  www.sarahpirtle.com

Susan Porter is a collage and book artist whose vibrant art journals have been featured in exhibitions such as Beyond the Book. Her journals have inspired many others, old and young, to start creating their own art journals. She has been making art with children and adults since the 1970’s as a staff artist and senior program developer at Cooperative Artists Institute in Jamaica Plain. 

Meg Rayne - is a singer/ songwriter and “sacred sounder”, with a gift for writing songs that inspire female empowerment. She has produced four CD’s, and she tours extensively, sharing her original music from the heart.

Joanne Rowley is a Holistic Nurse Therapist with an Integrative Counseling practice in Newburyport. In addition to teaching yoga and mindfulness programs, she is the Clinical Counselor and Stress Management educator at NSMC Heart Center in Salem MA. The development of her teaching has been influenced by her trainings in various mind-body modalities, yoga and meditation practices, Spiritual Psychology and Contemplative Dance. She brings a light, warm hearted wisdom and curiosity to the art of true listening.

Contact:#978-463-9318   ritamb@comcast.net 

Lesley Ann Smith inspires, comforts, and ministers to the soul. As a workshop leader, singer/songwriter, performing artist and speaker she brings an infectious blend of comedy, music and story that creates a powerful, heart-opening experience for all ages. As a New England Foundation for the Arts touring artist and a former Recreation Director, she has performed across the world for children and adult audiences and led workshops on diverse topics ranging from conflict resolution, soft martial arts, creative expression, ventriloquism, partner massage, meditation, finding your voice and more.  She has decades of experience in the study of New Thought spirituality, meditation, authentic movement, Shintaido martial arts, ecology, theater, music and puppetry.  You can visit her at www.gratitude-music.com and her award wining children’s site www.sammysnail.com.  Most recently she led music at Soul School in Ireland and at mystic Walter Starcke’s retreat.

As a performer, Lesley Ann Smith is a world class ventriloquist, singer and comedian, who founded “The Theatre of Life Puppets”. She uses the gift of comedy, performance and music to uplift, inspire and delight audiences of every age, background and demographic.

CONTACT INFO: 

603-868-7949 (office)  603-498-8876 (mobile)

lsmithnh@aol.com  OR lesleysmith@sammysnail.com

Temple Thieves combine singing, poetry and rockin' spirit, to deliver a message rooted in American Blues, New Thought Spirituality and sensuous rhythm. The group includes Lisah Plumley, singer, songwriter, musician and artist, and Paula Estey, poet, performer, artist and teacher, as well as keyboards and percussion.

Our Keynote Speaker is Linda Weltner,  noted humorist, lecturer, author, playwright, activist and former columnist for the Boston Globe. Her article "The Journey of Spirituality" won the Gold Award from National Mature Media Awards for best feature, she was named Best Columnist by the New England Women's Press. Linda has made many TV appearances, including “The Good Day Show” and "Chronicle”, and is the author of several books and plays. 

The Zany Angels Dance Theatre Company is a theatrical troupe of highly trained dancers who use performance as a transformational, heart-opening, and life-affirming experience for both themselves and the audience.

The Zany Angels began with the collaboration of Rythea Lee and Rose Oceania over 10 years ago with an interest in developing the merging of dance, clown, voice, and monologue.  They founded a form they named "Moving Monologues" which involved spontaneous personal storytelling and movement.  This modality made way for deep and humorous monologues that were juxtaposed with the bodies natural play with time, space, shape, and quality.  Workshops were organized and participants found they were sharing in a different way then ever before.  People from all walks of life, dancers and non-dancers, artists and non-artists found an authentic and healing format for expression. 

The Zany Angels were officially formed in 2002 and began performing their work along the eastern seaboard.

Site:   www.zanyangels.com