Dan Berggren
Dan Berggren is a tradition-based songsmith who writes with honesty, humor and a strong sense of place. His concerts are engaging as he invites audiences to join in on songs that explore the lives of hard working folks and the many dimensions of home. While his roots are firmly in the Adirondack Mountains where he was raised, his music has branched out across many borders. For over 40 years, the award-winning musician and educator has performed across New York, from Vermont to Michigan, Kentucky to Texas, and overseas in Europe, the British Isles and Central Africa. A SUNY professor emeritus and founding member of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Northern Chautauqua in Fredonia, Dan along with his wife Nancy are active members of the UU Congregation of Saratoga Springs. Click here to visit Dan’s website, Berggren Folk.
“Dan is a throwback to the old role of the folk singer…he’s articulating things that need to be said right now.”
—Bill McKibben, author and environmentalist
The Reverend Joseph Cleveland
The Reverend Joseph Cleveland is the settled minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Saratoga Springs, NY. Before he found his calling in Unitarian Universalist ministry, he squandered much of his time on the guitar and banjo. He also founded the Folkus Project of Central New York, a nonprofit group that presents folk and acoustic music in Syracuse, NY.
Every now and then, you’ll find Joe’s put another song up on his page at http://soundcloud.com/joe-cleveland.
Markus Grae-Hauck
Markus Grae-Hauck is a conductor, pianist, and vocal coach based in the New York City area. He has been a UU musician since 2005 and is currently serving as Music Director for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, NJ.
Markus has conducted and/or accompanied big bands, various vocal ensembles, and over 70 musical theater productions, including a national tour of Irving Berlin’s “I Love A Piano”. He has also lived in Germany, France and Spain, figured out the meaning of life, played keyboards in a rock group while dressed in a neon pink jumpsuit, co-founded an opera company, and released two CDs of his own piano compositions; his music has been featured on nationally syndicated German network radio and on the sampler “le classique abstrait” published worldwide by Universal Music.
You can contact Markus at musicdir@uumontclair.org. Some of his music can be found at www.markushauck.com.
Yuri Yamamoto
Yuri Yamamoto is a singer, pianist, composer, choir director, story teller, and meditation dancer, and is still expanding her possibilities. She is a member of SKY, a multicultural trio that performs eclectic music, and serves as the Director of Music for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh, North Carolina while pursuing the UUA Music Leadership Credential. Born and raised in Japan, Yuri is actively involved in supporting the victims of the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, particularly those who were affected by the damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima. Her music videos as well as videos from an interview in Fukushima are available on Yuri’s YouTube channel. Lyrics of her Japanese songs are written by Masao Tachiya.
Travis Wernet – aka “Outlaw Dervish”
Travis is a Certified Projective Dream Worker, Professional Musician and ordained Unitarian Universalist Minister who leads on-going groups, and has offered his work internationally. He fuses his offerings in occasional Work Shops drawing on a diverse set of practices for exploring the rich wisdom of dreams. In June 2012, he led a workshop on Sound Healing and Dream Work at the International Association for the Study of Dreams Annual Conference in Berkeley California. Various Sound Healing techniques are applied in tandem with the dream work, providing layers of enriched experience for accessing the Deep Self. Travis also incorporates Shamanic techniques in order to ‘bring the dream alive’ and has been facilitating groups for the past 18 years, bringing a mythological-archetypal-poetic perspective to the work and much life experience. Musically, Travis has been playing Didjeridu and offering original Mystical Spoken Word Poetry for several years in a wide variety of musical projects, including Outlaw Dervish and Axis Mundi. He has traveled to India, Egypt and Australia to play music and say poems in group ceremonies and sacred spaces, and has released 4 studio albums featuring Didjeridu, on his own, and with Collaborators, most recently “Yoro Yoro” with Ben Leinbach.
Amy Carol Webb
The Reverend Amy Carol Webb is the “beloved song weaver” – passionate, powerful, and poignant. Born and reared in Oklahoma, Amy traces her heritage back to Native Americans through her Great-Grandmothers who settled Oklahoma when it was still a Territory. Amy’s music and ministry reflect the same pioneering spirit, tenacity, integrity and never-quit grit. With her undergraduate degree in performing arts, Amy cultivated a long and rewarding career travelling the world as a performer, recording artist and voice coach. Answering a life-long call to ministry, she earned her M.Div. from Andover Newton Theological school, and is now ordained to Unitarian Universalist Ministry. She currently serves as a hospice Chaplain, fills pulpits throughout Florida and the eastern seaboard, coaches congregational singing and composes both worship and secular music. She is presently at work on her 9th CD from her home in Miami, Florida. A congregant says, “Amy not only moves you, she moves you forward.”
Rabbi Danielle Upbin
Rabbi Danielle Upbin is a prayer leader, teacher, inspirational preacher and singer-songwriter. Originally from New York City, she currently resides in Clearwater, FL, where she and her husband serve as the spiritual leaders of Congregation Beth Shalom. Chanting Hebrew prayer in a joyous and soulful manner is Rabbi Danielle’s passion. She has studied meditation, Jewish mysticism, and yoga and strives to interweave inspiring teachings from Judaism into her presentations. She is actively involved in a local interfaith coalition, and is a regular presenter of song and prayer in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Clearwater’s monthly gathering called “Festival Ruah: A Multicultural Spirit Experience” along with musicians, dancers, artists and spiritual leaders from around the globe.
Rabbi Danielle released her first CD in 2012, entitled, “Reveal the Light”, an eclectic collection of spiritually oriented songs and chants in Hebrew and English. It has been said of her CD: “Reveal the Light gives us a sonic pathway into the rich tradition of the jewish faith, blesses us with the gift of hearing the power and sincerity of Rabbi Danielle’s voice, and adds to our palate of songs to be sung for sheer pleasure.” – Fred Johnson, internationally acclaimed Jazz musician, singer and spiritual teacher.
When she isn’t singing, Rabbi Danielle is chasing around her four little children, running half-marathons, and baking cookies.
Her music is available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby and OySongs.com.
Three Twelve
Since its inception in 2005, Three Twelve (known individually as Jason Whetstone, Deb McClain, and David M. Glasgow) has performed for thousands of listeners, in coffeehouses, conference centers, and festival stages. Stylistically, their music ranges from intimate ballads to jump-up-and-down rock—but with every song they perform, they explore the role of spirituality and transcendence in each individual’s search for meaning. Wherever they go, whatever they sing, listeners speak of hearing “exactly what they needed” in the music, speaking of situations ranging from a bad day at work to a cancer diagnosis.
Lisa Thiel
Lisa Thiel is a visionary artist and ceremonial singer whose healing song prayers and chants are among the most popular in the women’s spiritual movement today. Her spiritual path led her to study many of the world’s spiritual traditions and her teachers were yogis, shamans, Tibetan Lamas and Wise Women of the Goddess Tradition. The connecting thread throughout was the practice of sacred song for healing and empowerment, and an emphasis on the Sacred Feminine found in all traditions in one form or another.
The result is a vital, authentic music that resonates with the energy of her experiences. Lisa is a priestess of Brighid and Kuan Yin in the Fellowship of Isis and honors the old Celtic Wheel of the year.
