Sound Nourishment

hello!

Thank you for your inquiry!

If you hired me for a World Music Performance or a Sonic Shift Session, you would receive a lovely ambient experience with instrumentals and songs from many parts of the world. I have sung in 18 languages throughout my singing career and one of my favorite things is to learn songs from different traditions, while honoring their origins with respect for the creators.

If you were to hire me to facilitate your team or event, we would have a super fun time playfully creating a safe space for folks to have fun while making music together either through singing or drumming. We play games, interact, build trust, take risks where appropriate, listen to each other, share and make music together!

Sound Nourishment Founder and Facilitator Renée Benmeleh brings over 20 years of world music and vocal performance experience to her workshops and team building events. Renée launched her vocal music studies in 1991 at Laney College in Oakland. In 1997 she transferred to Mills College in Oakland, CA, where she acquired a B.A. in Music with a specialization in Vocal Performance. While at Mills, Renée had the pleasure of studying vocal Jazz techniques with Faith Winthrop, Molly Holm, and, soon after, with Ledisi at The Jazzschool.

​Renée has studied with many Bay Area gifted artists including: Composition with Pauline Oliveros,  Jacqui Hairston, and Molly Holm; Afro-Brazilian and North African percussion with ritual Brazilian Bateria leader and percussion instructor Bruce Silverman; East Indian Raga with Rainey Eastman-Gannet; Neo-Soul singing with Trewlany Rose; and Middle Eastern vocal technique with Rachel Valfer-Sills.

​Renée is the founder and facilitator of Bay Area Vocal Improv and a certified Music Together teacher who has been joyfully leading adults, children, teams, and families in facilitated musical experiences since 2001. A member of the Northern CA Drum Circle Facilitators Coalition, Renée is an enlivened drum circle facilitator trained by Village Music Circles.

​In addition to a multi-culturally diverse vocal repertoire, Renée is a skilled and growing multi-instrumentalist, a practice that developed out of her natural curiosity, and was further supported by her studies acquiring a Certification in Sound, Voice, and Music Healing at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA. She has continued her studies with Ancestral Sound Curator, Musician, and Curandero Tito La Rosa.

Finally, Renée is the the lead singer of The Orpheus World Music Ensemble. She has facilitated ritual through song for over 15 years in the Lakota-Sioux ceremonial tradition and in the Jewish Renewal community. She has had the pleasure of facilitating private rituals including birth, coming of age, and other ceremonies that assist members in the process of being held by community.

I am currently working online and in some local instances in outdoor settings with safe protocols. I am versed in creating online events and have technical help. If you're hiring me to perform, you simply need a platform, such as Zoom to log on with good internet. If you are hiring to facilitate your group through music, you will need a Zoom account, and I would walk you through some sound settings. In non-covid time, I bring all my equipment and set up.