Join Priya Darshini, Grammy-nominated musician and Elissa's Classical Indian singing teacher, on a journey of exploring your voice through a new lens. In this 90-minute workshop, we'll focus on how to find clarity, ease, and stillness in your sound. With a range of exercises that span from chanting to scales and beyond, you'll learn a new way to engage in a daily practice that tunes your voice and brings strength of tone to every form of singing that you do. 

Priya's bio:

Taking her roots from Indian Classical music, Priya Darshini’s knowledge of music from all over the world has resulted in a fresh, imaginative, and fascinating new sound.

Her unconventional compositions, ability to fluidly move between several musical styles, combined with a deeply present, and unfettered performance energy make for a powerful listening experience and have now become a part of her very distinct musical identity. Priya has collaborated with a wide range of artists from Pearl Jam; GRAMMY® Award winners Roy “Futureman” Wooten; Jeff Coffin, Philip Lassiter, Silk Road Ensemble’s Shane Shanahan; virtuoso ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro, Dave Eggar, Karsh Kale, House of Waters, and many more.
In 2020, Priya released her debut solo album – Periphery – on Chesky Records and was nominated for the 63rd Annual GRAMMY® Award for Best New Age Album.

Based out of Brooklyn New York, Priya has sung for over a hundred television and radio commercials, as well as recorded for several award-winning and chart-topping movie soundtracks. She is also an actor (The Letters), ultra marathoner, entrepreneur (The Wind Chasers – organizing extreme ultra marathons in the Himalayas and the south of India), and an environmental advocate. She serves on the Board of Directors of the International Wildlife Co-existence Network and is a trustee of the Mumbai-based non-profit organization Jana Rakshita – working with underserved pediatric cancer patients, and building infrastructure for schools, with a focus on education for girls.  Priya Darshini has been featured in several distinguished newspapers and magazines including Variety Magazine, Rolling Stone, Vogue India, and more.

Testimonial from Elissa, founder of Voice Body Connection:

I am so excited to bring my teacher and Classical Indian guru Priya Darshini to Voice Body Connection to share her musical talents and teaching with us!

I found Priya accidentally in 2019. I thought I was looking for someone to teach me the harmonium, but when a friend mentioned I might like to try studying Classical Indian singing I figured it could be interesting. I called Priya to arrange a lesson, and by the end of the first hour, I felt like I'd come home. I'd found something I didn't even realize I was looking for - a new (for me) approach to sound, music theory, and the joy of my using my voice.

Studying Classical Indian singing is a beautiful, slow, unfolding process for me. The more I give to the music the more it gives to me: the practice challenges my brain, gives me a new way to meditate, expands my understanding of the relationships between notes and frequencies, and strengthens and steadies my voice. Studying with Priya specifically is such a gift. She herself has explored so many musical styles that she can support me in bringing new ideas to my songwriting and new opportunities for the way I express through ornamentation, dynamics, and tone. Learning with her has brought back the love for music theory that I thought I'd lost... at a certain point I'd accumulated so much baggage around in my musical theatre and Western classical training that I could hardly listen to music in those genres. Now I even love all of that again and can sing it with more ease too. 

Priya has been a champion for me in returning to my voice and empowerment through singing and music. I can't speak highly enough of her gifts, talents, and generosity, and I'm simply so excited that she's coming to share her gifts with all of us.