Events Archive

Words, Movement and Thought

This playful workshop in freeing the body and the voice will include gentle movement, easy dancing, and guided practices in opening the voice and singing all conduced in a safe and supportive environment. Guaranteed to lift your spirits and ease your heart.

Nina Wise is a multifaceted writer, performance artist, and visionary known for her extraordinary ability to merge words, movement, and thought into a harmonious tapestry of creativity. Described by a New York Times columnist as “a metaphysical vaudevillian for the new millennium,” Nina Wise, founder of Motion Theater, is an artist who has invented a compelling form of physical autobiographical theater. Her unique performances thoroughly integrate movement and narrative in a seamless unfolding that brings one to tears, laughter and deep sighs of recognition about the human condition. Audience members and critics alike comment that they have not seen anything quite like Wise’s work before and are driven to blended comparisons—Martha Graham mixed with Robinson Jeffers; Lily Tomlin mixed with Jules Feiffer—and use words like “fresh,” “moving,” and “deeply human.”Ms Wise is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the Marin Arts Council, and her performance works have been honored with seven Bay Area Theater Critics’ Circle Awards. She teaches around the world workshops in creative expression, writing and meditation. Her book, A Big New Free Happy Unusual Life, was published by Broadway Books and her stories and articles have been published in numerous anthologies and journals.

More About Wisdom Keeper Week

Cultivating Courage, Commitment, and Love

During Wisdom Keeper Week we celebrate my father’s birthday by exploring one of his core teachings. To enliven and enrich our week-long community, it is my honor to invite presenters who embody these teachings.

Sarah Livia Brightwood Szekely is President of Rancho La Puerta. For forty years she has designed the gardens and cared for the wildlands around Rancho La Puerta. As the keeper of the vision and long-range planner she has preserved the soul and culture of Rancho La Puerta while bringing new programs and reviving the earth honoring traditions that inspired the early years at Rancho La Puerta. She is also President of Fundación La Puerta through which she guides Rancho La Puerta’s non-profit work in the region. In 1984 Sarah established Agricola Tres Estrellas, a diverse organic farm that provides food to Ranch La Puerta’s guests year-round and in 2007 she designed and opened La Cocina Que Canta, a culinary center and cooking school to teach commitment to healthy eating and to embrace the joy of harvesting and cooking in community. She is the daughter of philosopher and visionary Edmond Bordeaux Szekely and community organizer and philanthropist Deborah Szekely, the founders of Rancho La Puerta.

Cultivating Courage, Commitment, and Love

During Wisdom Keeper Week we celebrate my father’s birthday by exploring one of his core teachings. To enliven and enrich our week -long community it is my honor to invite presenters who embody these teachings.

During this distressing time of conflict, healing is needed in every corner of our lives. The force that my father believed to be essential in bringing harmony and healing to our world, is the principle of “active love”. The presenters this week have been chosen because they have successfully wedded their purpose with their passion. They delightfully, innovatively, and effectively practice “active love”.

When I was a college student, I had a card taped to my wall that said, “Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow”. These words recall the idealism and naiveté of my youth, but as I approach my seventies, I have learned that when the heart leads with curiosity, vision, discipline and love, amazing things can happen. We will explore the ways that courage, commitment, and love are braided together. We will bake challah this week, made of these three strands and share this nourishment. In the spirit of Rumi, “Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground”.

Sarah Livia Brightwood Szekely is President of Rancho La Puerta. For forty years she has designed the gardens and cared for the wildlands around Rancho La Puerta. As the keeper of the vision and long-range planner she has preserved the soul and culture of Rancho La Puerta while bringing new programs and reviving the earth honoring traditions that inspired the early years at Rancho La Puerta. She is also President of Fundación La Puerta through which she guides Rancho La Puerta’s non-profit work in the region. In 1984 Sarah established Agricola Tres Estrellas, a diverse organic farm that provides food to Ranch La Puerta’s guests year round and in 2007 she designed and opened La Cocina Que Canta, a culinary center and cooking school to teach commitment to healthy eating and to embrace the joy of harvesting and cooking in community. She is the daughter of philosopher and visionary Edmond Bordeaux Szekely and community organizer and philanthropist Deborah Szekely, the founders of Rancho La Puerta.

Pearls from the Practice of Life

A family physician’s guide to help you struggle less and thrive more.

The Building Blocks of a Life Well-Lived
A review of the ground rules for the game of life and a checklist of the essential items to pack for the journey. Topics include genetics, choice, the pursuit of happiness, friends, generous listening, strategy, overcoming self-consciousness and decision paralysis, balancing making money and doing good, showing up and following through, flexibility, creativity, calendars and checklists, and a description of everyone’s favorite teammate.

From Me to We: The Benefits of Shifting Your Focus from Yourself to Others
Will you use your days and years to languish in the ordinary and pedestrian, or work with others to change the arc of history? Topics include values inventories, mission statements, lofty goals, greatness redefined, finding your lane, flow, and a physician’s inside scoop on end-of-life satisfaction and regret.

Tips for Turning Your Struggles into Success
The bad news is that brokenness, isolation, and feelings of despair are widespread. The good news is that we are forged into our best selves through our struggles. Topics include multiple simultaneous conflicting imperatives (MSCI), kintsugi, foxhole mantras, the music of Dave Matthews, and the wisdom of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Richard Rohr, and John Gardner.

Becoming Your Best Self through Values-Congruent Living
A game plan for your metamorphosis into a new and improved version of you. Dr. Chuck reviews the six habits that promote resilience, joy, and meaning (values congruent living, imitating resilient others, nurturing social networks, mindfulness, movement, and eating for both health and pleasure) and the SMART model for behavior change that transforms good intentions into sustained changes in thoughts and behaviors.

John Chuck, M.D., draws on over thirty years of patient care, teaching, and leadership experience to help people find solutions to complex problems related to wellness, joy, and meaning. He does this by being a generous listener, providing informed perspectives, and offering evidence-based hope and encouragement. He was the Chief of Health Promotion for Kaiser Permanente and the Regional Chair of Physician Health and Wellness for The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) and is currently a Professor of Family Medicine at California Northstate University. John’s work has been recognized with the Sidney Garfield Exceptional Contribution Award from TPMG and the UC Davis Alumni Association’s Outstanding Alumnus Award.

Jazz and Love Songs & Ukulele Classes

Pamela Polland is an award-winning singer/songwriter, with three albums on Columbia and Epic as well as two more independently released albums to her credit. Over the course of literally 50 years in the music business, this seasoned professional has performed and recorded with such luminaries as Bonnie Raitt, Kenny Loggins, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, John Denver, Manhattan Transfer and a host of others. In 1970, Pamela joined the famed Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour with Joe Cocker and Leon Russell, appearing on the resulting album as well as in the movie. Her songs have been recorded by the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Helen Reddy, The Byrds, Anita Carter, Vicki Carr, Nancy Ames and Bobby Bare. Pamela has also won numerous awards, including two coveted gold records. She also appeared in the Academy Award and Grammy Award winning film, 20 Feet from Stardom. After achieving status as a well-established vocal coach and jazz singer, Pamela then devoted herself to Hawaiian culture for nearly twenty years studying language, dance, and music with the pre-eminent teachers in each field. Pamela’s love of Hawaiian music and language and her rich history in contemporary music inevitably coalesced, inspiring her CD, Hawaiianized.

Ross Gualco was born and raised in Oakland, California, where he studied piano with renowned bay area jazz pianist Don Burke. He studied music at Cal State Hayward before touring as musical director of the show band “Sounds of Joy”. He has played with jazz and rock luminaries such as Tom Scott, Steve Miller, Joe Satriani, Michael Bublé, Clark Terry, John Handy and Tommy Smothers. He has been musical director for many well-known Bay Area artists and shows including Val Diamond and Teatro ZinZanni, and more recently the San Francisco Circus Cabaret.

Love Songs for Our World with Cahill & Delene

Barry Cahill and Delene St. Clair are a husband & wife, singer-songwriter, vocal-instrumental team from the San Diego, California area. For the last 35 years, they have been inspiring audiences in the U.S., Costa Rica, Bhutan, Ireland, and England. As songwriters, one of their songs “Time to Go Home,” from their album “Songs for Humanity,” is aired on CBS. Two of their other songs won awards in the UNISONG International Song Contest and the International Songwriting Competition. They are members of the Positive Music Association and their music can be heard in regular rotation on many internet stations. As performers, they have a heart-to-heart connection and synergistic energy onstage with each other and their audiences. Delene’s guitar stylings and Cahill’s soulful sax and flute solos, coupled with their perfect vocal blend, provide a sonic beauty that moves, grooves, and inspires the listener. Besides their original music, Cahill & Delene perform jazz and folk-rock covers from the 60’s-80’s, so be ready to sing and clap along!

Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for A Lifetime of Love

Renew trust and intimacy in your relationship. Forget about learning how to argue better, or analyzing your early childhood, or making grand romantic gestures. The Hold Me Tight week-long conversations are all about opening individuals and couples to a new language of love, language and tools for enriching healthy relationships, revitalizing tired ones, or rescuing ones that have gone awry.

The week-long program revolves around seven transforming conversations, conversations for connection, with each conversation focusing on key moments in everyone’s relationships. These key moments are used as touch points for seven healing conversations, guiding participants with insights on creating secure and lasting bonds with their partner.

Peggie Dickens is a licensed counselor and life coach with a masters in psychology and mental health counseling. She is trained in somatic-based, attachment-based, and EMDR, therapies, specializing in couples, life transitions, trauma, anxiety, and depression. Peggie also leads group, and one-on-one intensive, couples workshops from her base on Bainbridge Island, Washington. For over three decades, she has worked with individuals, families, and organizations in setting meaningful goals and developing effective plans to reach them. Her focus is helping others develop skills to cope with changes in their life, and to create the life they want, and deserve.

Peter Yarrow in Concert

Concert – Thursday 5pm Oaktree Pavilion

Peter Yarrow (of Peter Paul and Mary) commitment and life’s work have been framed by his awareness that music of conscience can be extremely effective when used as a source for inspiring and uniting efforts to heal and create a better world. As a performer and social activist, Peter has used music in just that way, bringing people together to create a more just, peaceful, and compassionate society. Through such efforts, beginning in the early 1960’s, the music of Peter, Paul and Mary became, for literally millions of people, the genesis of their activism and commitment to advancing positive social change. Peter’s gift for songwriting has produced some of the most moving songs in the Peter, Paul & Mary repertoire including “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” “Day is Done,” “Light One Candle,” and “The Great Mandala.” Currently Yarrow’s efforts are mainly focused on the non-profit, Operation Respect (OR) with its classroom-based program called “Don’t Laugh At Me” (DLAM) that utilizes music and the arts combined with social/emotional learning curricula for elementary and middle school children, now utilized in over 20,000 schools worldwide. Peter believes that DLAM and other such programs that build community and catalyze positive attitudinal and behavioral change, can enable today’s children to break the cycle of hatred, bias, racism and bullying, helping them to envision and create a more just and peaceful world.

Hands-On Cooking Classes and Soulful Garden Delights Dinner with Tanya Holland

Tanya offers hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our culinary center on Tuesday and Wednesday, at 4pm. In addition, Chef Tanya will collaborate with La Cocina Que Canta’s Executive Chef Reyna Venegas and her team to create a special feast (with wine pairing!) on Thursday at 4:45pm.

Hands On Cooking Classes and Chefs Dinner Sign Up

Tuesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Wednesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Thursday Soulful Garden Delights 4:45 PM
Celebrate the abundance of our organic farm and the connection to community with a Farm-to-Table dining experience – a perfect blend of health, tradition, flavor, and fun! Cost is $150 per person, tax and wine pairing included. The maximum number of guests is 30. Sign Up at the Appointments Desk or through the link above.

Tanya Holland is the founder of the famed Brown Sugar Kitchen restaurant and author of Tanya Holland’s California Soul, Brown Sugar Kitchen and New Soul Cooking cookbooks. She is the Chef/Chair of The James Beard Foundation Awards. Her Oakland based restaurant received multiple Michelin Bib Gourmand awards. She is an in-demand public speaker who frequently leads the conversation on inclusion and equity in the hospitality industry. Holland holds a Bachelor of Arts in Russian Language and Literature from the University of Virginia, and a Grande Diplôme from La Varenne École de Cuisine in Burgundy, France. Holland competed on the 15th season of Top Chef on Bravo; was the host/soul food expert on Food Network’s Melting Pot and has made numerous television appearances including The Today Show, The Talk, CBS This Morning, Iron Chef, Master Chef and Selena + Chef. Holland a member of the prestigious Les Dames d’Escoffier Bay Area chapter, and was honored by the City of Oakland when June 5, 2012, was declared “Tanya Holland Day.” A year later she was awarded the Key to The City. Internationally, she served as a Culinary Diplomat for the US State Department in Kazakhstan and Mexico and taught classes in France for gastronomic travelers.

Hands-On Cooking Classes and Soulful Garden Delights Dinner with Tanya Holland

Hands On Cooking Classes and Chefs Dinner Sign Up

Tuesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Hands-On Cooking Classes and Soulful Garden Delights Dinner with Tanya Holland

Tuesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM Sign Up
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Wednesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM Sign Up
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Thursday Soulful Garden Delights 4:45 PM Sign Up
Celebrate the abundance of our organic farm and the connection to community with a Farm-to-Table dining experience – a perfect blend of health, tradition, flavor, and fun! Cost is $150 per person, tax and wine pairing included. The maximum number of guests is 30. Sign Up at the Appointments Desk or through the link above.

A Concert in Word and Song with Peter and Bethany Yarrow

An Evening Concert with Peter and Bethany Yarrow

Singing Workshop with Bethany Yarrow
Over the past few years, Bethany has been translating a song cycle of traditional music for the Orixás, the great pantheon of Afro-Brazilian deities that embody the forces of nature. Born in Brazil from the meeting of African archetypes, indigenous cosmologies and Judeo-Christian beliefs, the songs call on the healing forces of the wind, water, forest, fire, mineral and animal kingdoms, the celestial bodies and all the guardians of sacred knowledge. They are invocations connected to an original source of life and love that have the power to heal, activate, dissolve prejudice, and remind us of our shared responsibility to protect the Sacred and this beautiful Earth that we call home.

Peter Yarrow’s commitment and life’s work have been framed by his awareness that music of conscience can be extremely effective when used as a source for inspiring and uniting efforts to heal and create a better world. As a performer and social activist, Peter has used music in just that way, bringing people together to create a more just, peaceful, and compassionate society. Through such efforts, beginning in the early 1960’s, the music of Peter, Paul and Mary became, for literally millions of people, the genesis of their activism and commitment to advancing positive social change. Peter’s gift for songwriting has produced some of the most moving songs in the Peter, Paul & Mary repertoire including “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” “Day is Done,” “Light One Candle,” and “The Great Mandala.” One of Yarrow’s efforts is focused on the non-profit, Operation Respect (OR) with its classroom-based program called “Don’t Laugh at Me” (DLAM) that utilizes music and the arts combined with social/emotional learning curricula for elementary and middle school children, now utilized in over 20,000 schools worldwide. Peter believes that DLAM and other such programs that build community and catalyze positive attitudinal and behavioral change, can enable today’s children to break the cycle of hatred, bias, racism and bullying, helping them to envision and create a more just and peaceful world.

Bethany Yarrow has continued the family tradition of uniting people’s spirits and hearts through music. She is a water protector, song carrier, earth activist, mother, and co-executive director of the Waterfall Unity Alliance, an indigenous led not-for-profit which, in 2022, facilitated the first farm landback and rematriation project in New York State. www.waterfallunityalliance.org

More About Wisdom Keeper Week

Take Heart, Take Action: The Transformative Power of Small Acts, Groups, and Gardens

Take Heart, Take Action: The Transformative Power of Small Acts, Groups and Gardens
In a world on fire with crisis, how do we nurture hope, build power and contribute meaningfully? How do we create the personal and collective transformations this planetary moment calls for? What if small daily acts of courage and conviction, small groups of unstoppable world changers and even small gardens of regenerative delight could transform your life and community and help change the world just when it’s needed most? Hear inspiring stories of personal and collective transformation and a time-tested set of values and principles for waking, taking action and nurturing community.

Each session is an engaging blend of inspiring stories and ample fodder for personal reflection and group sharing with mind body medicine practices such as meditation sprinkled in.

Workshop 1 – Reverence: Start with Your Heart
The essence of Reverence is about waking up and following our hearts. Doing so can rewire one’s mind, body, and emotions. It connects us to something bigger to make our greatest contribution. We’ll discuss the benefits of living with reverence, embracing heartbreak and the growing body of evidence on the power of practicing heart qualities such as love, compassion, forgiveness and kindness. You’ll gather tools and resources to practice heart qualities and clarify where your inspiration meets the hurt you are called to heal and the gifts you seek to contribute.

Workshop 2 – Ripples: Reclaim the Power and Joy in Your Actions
Once awake, Ripples are the actions we take to find our vision, voice, and power. You’ll gain tools and resources to hone your personal compass and develop or deepen your habits and practices to be your best self and make your greatest contribution more of the time.

Workshop 3 – Relationships: Nurture Community
Relationships is about creating and nurturing community because that’s how life on our planet works. Learn how relationships underpin planetary function and how this applies to affecting greater personal and community transformation, in your garden, neighborhood and beyond.

Take Heart, Take Action Workshops: Guests can enjoy the workshops as a series or an ala carte nibble. Each session builds sequentially as part of a wholistic framework; though they can be taken stand alone, providing inspiration, tools and resources to help you live your inspiration and affect the positive change you are called to contribute.

Trathen Heckman is the founder and Director of Daily Acts Organization and author of Take Heart, Take Action, The Transformative Power of Small Acts, Groups and Gardens. He has helped found and lead numerous local, state and national resilience and sustainability coalitions, alliances and networks. For 21 years, Daily Acts has inspired positive environmental action, spreading solutions and empowering youth and community leaders. This includes implementing over 1,600 programs; catalyzing tens of thousands of resilience-building projects; installing demonstration gardens for fire survivors, homeless veterans and schools and catalyzing stronger environmental policy to help make the City of Petaluma and Sonoma County California state and national climate leaders. Trathen’s life and leadership are deeply informed by time in the garden and wild places and with inspiring people. He utilizes his skills and resources to empower communities toward reclaiming the power of their actions to regenerate self, nature, and community. He has presented and lead at numerous local, regional, state, national and international conferences. Trathen lives in the Petaluma, California with his wife, daughter, chickens and cats where he grows food, medicine and wonder while working to compost apathy and lack. www.dailyacts.org

More About Wisdom Keeper Week

Learning to Live with Less

Learning to Live with Less and Why it Matters
What are the financial and psychological costs that clutter can have on your personal and professional life? Leave this session with solutions to help you declutter and be motivated to discard unneeded ‘stuff.’ Presentation will include group discussion related to struggles with letting go of items in your home.

Too Much Clutter? How Do I “Let It Go?”
Feeling overwhelmed, too many clothes, piles of paper, photos, bags, spices, magazines, craft projects, China, and antique furniture? Have you inherited boxes of family heirlooms and have let them sit? Participants will learn the 5-step method of organizing items in your home and office. You will also learn about Brain Organizing to help you declutter your brain so you can declutter your life.

Amy Carstensen, a San Diego based Professional Organizer, started her business “Organizing with Amy” in 2013. Amy holds a Master’s degree from UCSD in International Relations. She’s taught high school Spanish, worked for the International Community Foundation and was the Founder and Executive Director of Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center. When she’s not out putting labels on bins, she’s home annoying her husband and two teenage boys reminding them “to never leave a room empty handed.”

Concert: Music for One Piano-Four Hands

New York-based pianist Eleonor Bindman and Seattle-based pianist Lorenzo Marasso meet at Rancho La Puerta to offer the Ranch’s guests two concerts in the combination “one piano-four hands” or “piano duet”.

The first concert will feature an all J.S. Bach program, with solo pieces, performed by both pianists, as well as in “duet” formation, performing one of Ms. Bindman’s transcriptions of the Bach’s Orchestral Suite #2.

The second concert will also feature both pianists in “duet” formation and explore the Classical, Romantic and Impressionist repertoire with works by Mozart, Schubert, Barber and Ravel.

Praised by The New York Times for her “lively, clear-textured and urbane” pianistic style and her “impressive clarity of purpose and a full grasp of the music’s spirit,” Eleonor Bindman hails from Riga, Latvia. She holds a BA in music from NYU and completed her MA in piano pedagogy at SUNY New Paltz.

Ms. Bindman’s recital appearances have included Carnegie Hall, The 92nd Street Y, Merkin Hall and Alice Tully Hall; concerto appearances have included engagements with the National Music Week Orchestra, the Staten Island Symphony, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the New York Youth Symphony, and the Moscow Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra.

Classical Archives declared: “Prepare to be surprised” when encountering Ms. Bindman’s vast range of musical activity. Lately, she has been focusing on transcribing and performing the music of J.S. Bach. Her Brandenburg Duets, a new arrangement of the six Brandenburg Concertos for Piano-four-hands, was declared “breathtaking in its sheer precision and vitality” by Pianist Magazine, while the Cello Suites for Piano, a new version of Bach’s iconic set, made its debut at #7 on the Billboard® Classical Charts. 2022 marked the release of Bach’s complete Orchestral Suites for piano duet as well as a solo recording of the 6 keyboard Partitas.

A passionate music educator, Eleonor conducts online workshops for adult amateur pianists focusing on efficient practicing, score analysis and memorization. She also created many family-friendly @Classical4Kids playlists available on Spotify and Apple Music.
Website: https://eleonorbindman.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EleonorBindman/

Lorenzo Marasso is an impassioned and sympathetic conductor, concert pianist, chamber musician, educator and radio host. Dubbed, by Mexican-American pianist Ana Cervantes, the “king of repertoire”, Lorenzo’s creative and intrepid programming spans centuries and continents, often revealing lesser known masterpieces and rarely performed arrangements.

Lorenzo’s performances have been broadcast in numerous media outlets, including Seattle’s 98.1 Classical King FM and NPR. In 2021 Lorenzo founded the Seattle Chamber Orchestra and is serving now as the ensemble’s music director. In the same year he also started hosting a weekly radio program called Dress Rehearsal on 107.3FM KBFG Seattle.

Equally inspired by contemporary music, Lorenzo has commissioned and performed world premieres of new works by several international composers who have written and dedicated pieces to him. Lorenzo’s on-going collaboration with Los Angeles-based composer, Anne LeBaron, whose pieces for “speaking pianist” offer a new way of interaction between performance and acting, led him to commission the writing of a new piece titled Partizan, as part of her projected series The Well-Read Clavier, using fictional texts by Italian novelist Beppe Fenoglio, which was premiered at the Alba Music Festival in Italy, in 2018. In July 2020 he completed the Invention Project, a commission of new pieces for piano inspired by J.S. Bach’s Inventions and Sinfonias.

From 2012 to 2016 Lorenzo, while in Los Angeles, was Music Director of String Orchestra Project, an ensemble devoted to performing the chamber orchestral repertoire with no boundaries of styles or combination of players. Under Lorenzo’s baton and artistic directorship, the group has presented a regular season of concerts featuring repertoire spanning from J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart to P. Hindemith and S. Reich. In 2015, SOP was invited to accompany the winners of the Derek Jones Piano Competition in a gala concert, which Lorenzo conducted, at Thayer Hall in Downtown Los Angeles.

Lorenzo was born in Torino, Italy and graduated from the Conservatorio di Milano in 1994. The same year, he enrolled in the postgraduate program at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he also studied orchestral conducting. In 1996, he participated in the Park Lane Group Young Artist Series performing at the Southbank Centre in London, a solo recital of contemporary compositions by Paul Patterson, James Macmillan, John McCabe and Nimrod Borenstein. Lorenzo’s commitment to performing contemporary works led him to participate in the Valentino Bucchi Piano Competition in Rome, Italy, where he was a prize winner. Further engagements included performing the UK premiere of Keith Jarrett’s Sonata for Violin and Piano at the Hatherleigh Festival as well as works by Nigel Clarke and John McCabe in the presence of the composers.

Lorenzo currently lives in the Seattle area where he continues his activity of solo, chamber musician and educator and enjoys collaborations with the University of Washington and Seattle University.
Website https://www.lorenzomarasso.com
YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@lorenzomarasso7525/videos
Seattle Chamber Orchestra https://www.seattlechamberorchestra.org
Recordings Music for Two Pianos https://open.spotify.com/playlist/72lYagUga8CwH3S1qETAmo?si=7dd85d5702f94851
Inventions and Sinfonias https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5VX3C5GphxFoRApVnEKbTY?si=a94a31f863674faf
The Seven Last Words https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3v5B4PutaGZhw3WNYJt6w5?si=07f4166794a14501
Abenteuer https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3YHDod8MXUEhjGvVl3f6QE?si=802a68fe0a084a5b
Radio Show “Dress Rehearsal” live on 107.3 KBFG Seattle http://fulcrumcc.org/listen
Radio Show “Dress Rehearsal” Spotify Archive https://open.spotify.com/show/3Pc1lreYBZhDUhaNFthzI8?si=98c7163b6dbd4826

Experiencing Somatic Art

Join Lauren Elder for a journey of discovery and revelation using pastels and chalk, working with both hands, through guided meditation with eyes closed.

This is a process that is both playful and surprising.

Lauren Elder is an award-winning environmental artist and designer who develops place-making projects with and for host communities. Her practice dances on the border between landscape design and public art and includes small parks, school and community gardens and small structures. She is a Spanish speaker and works throughout Latin America and in the San Francisco Bay Area. When not in the field, narrative drawing series have become her principal medium. Elder received her BA in Fine Art/Sculpture (UCLA) with further studies in Landscape Architecture (UCB-Extension). She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Eureka/Fleishhacker Fellowship for Sculpture, three Isadora Duncan Awards for Visual Design, multiple NEA grants, two SF Bay Guardian Critics’ “Best of Year” awards, three Potrero Nuevo Environmental Awards, California Arts Council Individual Artist Award among others. Individual artworks have been exhibited at the SF Contemporary Jewish Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, UCB Art Museum, Walker Art Museum, Moscow General University (Russia), the Havana Biennia as well as in smaller galleries and cultural centers in the Bay Area and beyond. Elder’s artworks are in the permanent collections of the Oakland Museum of California, the David Brower Center, and the Tessie Cleveland Social Services Corporation.

More About Wisdom Keeper Week

Optimizing Your Health and Well-Being Through Lifestyle Medicine

Learn about the latest evidence for how the pillars of Lifestyle Medicine can lead to better health and leave each interactive workshop with specific, personalized goals to optimize your health and well-being in 2024

Session 1: What Is Lifestyle Medicine and How Can It Help Me?
Learn about how the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine: healthy eating, physical activity, stress reduction, restorative sleep, social connection, and reduced use of risky substances can help optimize health and well-being. Leave with personalized SMART goals to help you make healthy changes in your daily life

Session 2: Food as Medicine
Review the latest evidence about the microbiome, fiber, protein, intermittent fasting, and how to reduce inflammation, prevent disease, and improve your overall health through what you eat.

Session 3: Optimize Your Sleep
What are the best ways to improve your sleep? What is the role of nutrition, physical activity, mindfulness, and medication? We will review evidence-based strategies to getting a good night’s sleep. Leave with specific goals to help you sleep better in 2024

Session 4: Brain Health: Improve Your Mood and Reduce Your Risk for Dementia
Learn about how what you eat affects your brain including a discussion of the psychobiome, the MIND diet, and how nutrition and the other Lifestyle medicine pillars (including physical activity, stress reduction, sleep) can help with depression, anxiety, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and dementia.

Sarah-Anne Schumann, MD, MPH, is a physician who is board certified in both Family Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. She graduated from Harvard College, Harvard Medical School, and Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. She previously served on the medical school faculty at the University of Chicago and University of Oklahoma-Tulsa and is currently the Chief Medical Officer at Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma. She completed her certificate in plant-based nutrition at eCornell and the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and is a certified yoga and meditation teacher.

Ukulele Classes

Beginner ‘Ukulele Class-
This class is designed for beginners to the ‘ukulele, a small, four-stringed instrument. In this one-hour class, you’ll learn how to hold and play the instrument, as well as all the elements necessary to play a simple song. No prior musical experience is needed. This class will be limited to 9 people. Sign up in Main Lounge. ‘Ukuleles will be provided. Come have an hour of fun that will exercise your hands and brain.

Intermediate ‘Ukulele Class
This class is designed for people who have had some experience playing the ‘ukulele and know at least four basic chords. In this one-hour class, you’ll learn a strumming pattern that is applicable to many kinds of music and we’ll apply that strum to at least one song during the class. This class will be limited to 9 people. Sign up in Lounge. If you take one of the Beginner ‘Ukulele Classes earlier in the week, you may also sign up for this class if you’d like to learn even more before week’s end.

An award-winning singer/songwriter, with three albums on Columbia and Epic as well as two more independently released albums to her credit, Pamela Polland’s ever increasing list of musical credentials reads like a veritable Who’s Who of artists from all points on the musical compass. Over 50 years in the music business, this seasoned professional has both performed and recorded with such luminaries as Bonnie Raitt, Kenny Loggins, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, John Denver, and a host of others. In 1970, Pamela joined the famed Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour with Joe Cocker and Leon Russell, appearing on the resulting album as well as in the movie. Her songs have been recorded by, among others, Linda Ronstadt, Helen Reddy, The Byrds, Anita Carter and Bobby Bare. Pamela has also won numerous awards including 2 coveted gold records. After decades of success as performer, recording artist, composer and vocal coach, Pamela shifted focus to her life-long love of the Hawaiian culture. Living on Maui, she has studied ‘ukulele and Hawaiian music with Hall of Fame recipient Kahauanu Lake and Walter Kawai‘ae‘a, as well as the study of hula and Hawaiian language. Pamela brings all her decades of experience and expertise to her online vocal and ‘ukulele lessons, and is delighted to share her love of the ‘ukulele at Ranch La Puerta.

Gyrokinesis with Diane Daniel

Gyrokinesis is a complete movement system, for all levels and ages, and can be applied to a variety of situations, as one needs very little equipment. It incorporates many key principles from yoga, dance, gymnastics and Tai Chi. The class begins with the practitioner seated on a low stool, utilizing self-massage and simple breathing patterns to awaken the body. He or she mobilizes the spine through a series of arching, curling and spiraling movements. The corresponding breathing patterns in every movement help to stimulate the nervous system and open up energy pathways.

Diane Daniel trained as a classical dancer at the Hammond School in the UK. She spent over fifteen years as a professional dancer in Israel (The Israel Ballet) and Germany (Ballet Krefeld-Mönchengladbach, Tanztheater Heidelberg, Tanztheater Munster, and Tanztheater Freiburg). She is a certified Pilates, Gyrotonic & Grokinesis instructor.

Diane has worked with Alan Herdman at one of London’s most reputable Pilates studios. She also studied with Juliu Horvath in Germany for her Gyrotonic certification. She is a Pre-trainer in the Gyrotonic system and continues her education in Seattle with master trainer Karen Mullen.

Diane had her own private studio in Vancouver for over 20 years and now spends her time between Merida in Mexico and Vancouver.

Gyrokinesis with Diane Daniel

Diane had her own private studio in Vancouver for over 20 years and now spends her time between Merida in Mexico and Vancouver.

Art Lab

Sequential Artistic Explorations:

The Cosmic Doodle – Channeling your inner artist in pure color and line play. Pen, Marker, Paper and Go!

The Magic Dot – Let the water do the work! Exploring the wonderful world of watercolor.

Fantasy Collage – Let your imagination be your guide! A little paint, paper, scissors and glue – the sky is the limit!

Taking a Line for a Walk – Drawing exercises for people who don’t draw.

Let it Rip! The landscape of the Ranch in torn paper collage, putting color to shape and imagination to observation to fashion your own interpretive landscape “paintings.”

An award-winning painter and author, Erin Gafill has inspired people around the world with her inspirational art, heartfelt stories, and uniquely engaging teaching methods. Her work bridges art, craft, and community, weaving observation, intuition, and imagination into her painting, writing, teaching, and public speaking. A fifth-generation California artist, she was born in Big Sur, California in 1963, the daughter of a beatnik and a hippie and the great-great-granddaughter of Carmel’s first artist-in-residence. Growing up at her grandparents’ legendary restaurant, Nepenthe, a mecca for poets, bohemians and dreamers, she drew inspiration from its ever-changing cast of characters as well as the stunning and mystical beauty of the coast. Erin is the founder of the nonprofit Big Sur Arts Initiative, and a founding member of the Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Association. In 2001 Erin was honored to serve as the first American Artist-in-Residence at the Hamada International Children’s Museum, Hamada, Japan. In 2009, she and her husband Tom Birmingham were named Champions of the Arts by the Arts Council of Monterey County and were honored by the United States Congress for their service to the community through the arts. Her exhibit Color Duets was the featured Spring/Summer show for the Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, California, in 2022, and her solo exhibit, California Atmosphere, was featured this summer at the Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, California. She is the author of a coffee table art book, Color Duets, with Kaffe Fassett, and a memoir about life/work balance, Drinking from a Cold Spring, a Little Book of Hope.

I Can’t Draw and You Can’t Too!

I have a secret to tell you. Right now, you already have all the skills you need to make sketching a satisfying life-long practice. Join me to see for yourself the habits you can develop that will make this practice an on-going part of your life. You’ll find that a drawing practice does more than fill scrap paper and sketch books with random images. It will give you a method to see things in a new way, and a habit of being more present to your surroundings. Like a puzzle, a game, or sports, sketching keeps you grounded in the here and now. It is a practice that will enhance mindfulness and attention…and it might even improve your drawing skills. Let’s learn some simple sketch exercises that are all you need to begin a lifetime of drawing enjoyment and satisfaction.

Finding a Way in / Finding a Way Out – Let’s learn to see together, let’s learn how to find a way into interpreting what we see through the language of sketch. There are so many ways to get started, we’ll try a few, and you’ll begin to find what works for you.

Portrait Roulette – For most of us there is nothing more intimidating than drawing another person. Let’s throw caution to the wind, pick up our pencils and take our new found skills of observation for a spin. We’ll take turns quick-sketching one another and see how satisfying it is to capture people on paper.

Fifty Shades of Green – Pine trees, Pepper trees, Azaleas, Olives, Avocados, Weeping Willows and a fresh cut lawn. They are all green! How can we use a limited palette of paints to respond to the greens we see and build a symphony of green. Starting with blue and yellow, and even muting it with a bit of red, you’ll discover just how beautiful an array of greens can be.

Only You Have Your Point of View – Learning to find satisfaction in sketching means learning to see the world in a different way. Today we’ll explore elements of composition and point of view. We’ll learn to eliminate distractions and how to place the point of interest on our paper. You’ll see how changing your view point, even just a little, can greatly enhance your sketching experience.

Putting It All Together – Now that we’ve gotten our feet wet, let’s take sketch to a new level. Using line and color we’ll compose a study from nature. We’ll look at simplifying the complex world and narrowing our point of view so that we can create a color sketch that captures a moment in time and renders it as a keepsake.

Tom Birmingham is an artist and photographer living and working in Big Sur, California. After years of being intimidated by the perceived rigor of developing drawing skills, he embarked on a sketch practice that immediately brought satisfaction and enhanced his experiences in his travels and his daily life. Tom is a founder of the Peninsula Sketchers in Monterey, California. He teaches line and watercolor sketch around the country and on his annual Italian sketch tours. For thirty years, Tom has taught creative expression in photography, theater, and visual arts to artists and novices, adults and children around the world.

Concertante with Violin and Cello

Taiwanese violinist Pei-Chun Tsai received her Doctorate in Musical Arts from City University of New York with the publication of her dissertation on the violin writing of Richard Strauss. She also holds Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in violin performance from The Juilliard School.

Founding director of the Campanile Music Festival at San Diego State University, Pei-Chun curates innovative residencies of visiting artists from across the country for her students. As a member of the San Diego Symphony since 2006 and violin lecturer at San Diego State University, Pei-Chun performs regularly with the SDSU chamber orchestra, and released an album of solo violin entitled Chaconnes in 2021 featuring the works by Tomaso Vitali, J.S. Bach, and fellow SDSU faculty composer Joseph Waters. Pei-Chun performs on a 2020 violin by Boston-based luthier Charline Dequincy.

Abe Liebhaber, from Santa Barbara, California, has performed frequently with the San Diego Symphony, the Santa Barbara Symphony, Camarada San Diego, as well as in chamber settings domestic and abroad. He holds a tenured position in the Arizona Opera and has performed for nine seasons with the Sarasota Opera in Florida. He received his degrees in music performance from University of California Los Angeles and California State University Sacramento. Abe is a trained violin bowmaker and restorer of fine bows, and enjoys teaching the craft at his workshop on Adams Avenue “Antiques Row” in San Diego.

GYROKINESIS with Andrea McGinnis

Andrea McGinnis is a certified GYROKINESIS® and GYROTONIC® trainer, licensed bodywork practitioner, former professional ballet dancer, and innovative somatic educator. Her multi-layered depth of expertise as an instructor is rooted in her lifelong dedication to the creative exploration and expression of movement.

Andrea first discovered the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® in her late teens, after sustaining a major injury/surgery during her career as professional ballerina with the San Francisco Ballet. Through training in this method, not only did she recover and her dance technique significantly advance, but an entirely new depth and way of experiencing movement began to emerge. Inspired by the profound impact on her own body, she soon began studying to teach this work with a variety of master trainers in the system.

In 2016 she became a certified GYROKINESIS instructor, and 2018 she was additionally certified in the GYROTONIC ® Method. She is also authorized to teach on multiple Gyrotonic apparatuses, including: the Pulley-Tower, Jump-Stretch Board, Gyrotoner, and Archway.

Bringing to her teaching a highly embodied and extensive experience of over 18 years of practice in these methods, Andrea has a passion for guiding clients from all walks of life on their journey of embodying their potential for freedom of movement and vitality of being. She specializes in working with dancers, athletes & performing artists; especially in regards to injury recovery & rehabilitation.

A Licensed Massage Therapist with a thriving private practice since 2012, she enjoys drawing upon her vast knowledge of the inner workings of the body and highly-developed sense of touch. Deeply impacted by the internal movement and breath work modality of Continuum, she has intensively studied this practice for over 15 years with a variety of master teachers, including its founder, the late Emilie Conrad. Andrea also continues to dance professionally, currently performing with SoulSkin Dance and Metamorphosis Ballet.

Andrea has offered individual and group classes in somatic movement and dance for over the past decade, and since becoming Gyrotonic certified, she has taught at several studios throughout the greater San Francisco Bay Area. She currently sees clients at her private practice in Marin, California at the studio, “The Flow Space”.

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Words, Movement and Thought

Cultivating Courage, Commitment, and Love

Cultivating Courage, Commitment, and Love

Pearls from the Practice of Life

Jazz and Love Songs & Ukulele Classes

Love Songs for Our World with Cahill & Delene

Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for A Lifetime of Love

Peter Yarrow in Concert

Hands-On Cooking Classes and Soulful Garden Delights Dinner with Tanya Holland

Hands-On Cooking Classes and Soulful Garden Delights Dinner with Tanya Holland

Hands-On Cooking Classes and Soulful Garden Delights Dinner with Tanya Holland

A Concert in Word and Song with Peter and Bethany Yarrow

Take Heart, Take Action: The Transformative Power of Small Acts, Groups, and Gardens

Learning to Live with Less

Concert: Music for One Piano-Four Hands

Experiencing Somatic Art

Optimizing Your Health and Well-Being Through Lifestyle Medicine

Ukulele Classes

Gyrokinesis with Diane Daniel

Gyrokinesis with Diane Daniel

Art Lab

I Can’t Draw and You Can’t Too!

Concertante with Violin and Cello

GYROKINESIS with Andrea McGinnis