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Making Life Wonderful

Chiara Cortez

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About Me

My name is Chiara. 

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If we haven’t met yet, my name is Chiara. I live between Zamboanga City, Philippines - and Rome, where I co-founded a vocal improvisation community called Circlesinging Roma that I run alongside colleagues Cristina D’Arcangelo and fellow co-founder Daphne Nisi. What I love is to support people to bridge the gap between their inner world and their outer world through creative expression in collaborative processes. I believe that using our voice and body to improvise in sound and movement and create music together is a balm for the soul, which is why I advocate so passionately for it. I am a teacher, community builder, vocal improviser, eternal learner and circlesinging facilitator with a BA in psychology from Stanford University and an ongoing education in Nonviolent Communication. I wear many hats, but these are the roles I carry forth that are inextricable from who I am as a person as well.

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I offer facilitation, workshops and training in circlesinging and vocal improvisation.

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I offer 1-on-1 sessions, mediation and group facilitation based on Nonviolent Communication.

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I hope you can join me in an upcoming experience, soon.

 

With love,

Chiara

 

theartofmakinglifewonderful@gmail.com

(whatsapp) +39 3398223892

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Facilitation Reel

This reel is a collection of some past experiences that I have had the honor to take part in, or that I have led or co-led as facilitator.

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Desert

an improvised spoken word piece as performed live at "La Chute", in Florence, Italy, on September 22, 2018 with the ElectroCircleSongs Ensemble, featuring Ben Bazalgette

Chiara's Ongoing Music Journey

Born in Rome, Italy, from Filipino parents and educated in international schools, Chiara Cortez has been immersed in multicultural and international environments throughout her life. This is also expressed in her musicality and her musical interests. Her musical journey started with ten years of violin studies, but Chiara was soon attracted by singing, songwriting, and vocal arrangements. Her experience in the world music a cappella group Talisman during her studies at Stanford University in California, shaped and informed her musical tastes and sparked her interest in extemporaneous composition and circlesinging. In Italy, she became part of the all-female ensemble The Sessions Voices, with whom she performed in various radio and TV programs and with whom she recorded two albums, “Songs of Freedom” (2011) and “Tender You Back” (2017). As a songwriter, she has collaborated with various artists and written and sung for major soundtracks: Beata Ignoranza (Massimiliano Bruno, 2017), The Place (Paolo Genovese, 2017), Il Premio (Alessandro Gassman, 2017), the TV series Immaturi (2018), Non ci Resta che il Crimine (Massimiliano Bruno, 2019), Domani è un Altro Giorno (Simone Spada, 2019), I Migliori Giorni (Massimiliano Bruno e Edoardo Leo, 2023).  Over the last few years, she has dedicated herself to the study of improvisation and circlesinging, having had the privilege of taking courses and workshops and studying with many master teachers in the field. Among the trainings she has completed are: Rhiannon's annual masterclass on vocal improvisation “All The Way In” (2017),  Música Do Círculo’s annual training for leaders in São Paulo, Brazil (2022-2023) and she has attended Bobby McFerrin's Circlesongs School (2016, 2018, 2022). She is an initiating member of "The Well" - the global vocal improvisation network, that was founded by Rhiannon and named by Bobby McFerrin, and an initiator of the Italian group "Collettivo CantInCerchio". She facilitates regular circlesinging gatherings and teaches courses and workshops on vocal improvisation practices. She was an the faculty of the first two editions of the French festival Le Cercle Enchanté (2021, 2022). She is part of the Vocal River Murmurations project that premiered in Montreal, Canada, in October 2023, under the artistic direction of Rhiannon and Margie Gillis. She has been studying and practicing Nonviolent Communication since 2017, training with and assisting various trainers, mainly with Yoram Mosenzon's Connecting2Life school and community, and is constantly looking for ways to combine Empathy with collective music improvisation practices. Chiara is co-founder of the "Circlesinging Roma" initiative (co-founded in January 2015 on the seeds of inspiration planted by Laura Montanari and Rhiannon), the first open circlesinging community in the Italian capital, active since 2015, which she continues to manage together with co-founding partner Daphne Nisi and colleague Cristina D'Arcangelo. 

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Get in Touch

Rome, Italy

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