Hi, I'm Noe.
A songleader and vocal coach dedicated to helping you find your inner music – so you can let through that beautiful, unique voice that is yours alone.
Do You Want to SING?
Are you a secret singer? A shower singer? An “I sang in a chorus twenty years ago and I really miss it” kind of a singer?
Have you ever listened to Edith Piaf, and wondered how cathartic it must feel to let loose like that?
Well, I’ve got good news for you – if you want to sing, there’s a big, beautiful breakthrough awaiting, just around the corner. Here’s what it looks like –
It looks like a space where all voices are welcome, and people sing for the love of it.
It sounds like pure beauty, as twenty or more voices weave together in harmony, and you feel yourself and your voice held within that gorgeous whole.
It feels like being seen, held, and cared for by a community of people you can’t wait to get to know better.
This is the type of experience that community singing can provide, and if this speaks to you, I can’t wait to share it with you!
Would you like to hear about how I came to do what I do? If so, then read on!
– RUMI
How I Became a Songleader
I was thirty when I attended my first singing circle, and that gathering changed my life.
Granted, music had always been a big part of my life. I’d grown up singing in choruses, acting in musicals, playing piano and guitar.
I’d even made music my profession, making my living as an independent touring singer-songwriter throughout my twenties. In that capacity, I’d self released six albums of original music which amazingly received the support of many of my musical heroes, leading to national tours opening for Ani DiFranco, They Might be Giants, and more.
So music, and singing in particular, was already something I felt fluent in and loved deeply.
But when I stepped into the warm, welcoming embrace of that singing circle, I experienced music in a whole new way.
In that sacred singing space, people weren’t singing to perform. Instead, it was all about the process.
The singing circle was warm, vibrant, inclusive.
All were welcome. All voices. All ages. All genders. Some were experienced singers, who knew how to read music and could make up harmonies with ease. Others were completely new to singing.
But as the songleader sang those first lines for us to echo back, and we all sang her line back to her, something incredible happened.
All of those different, disparate voices began to come together, and the whole was unlike anything I’d experienced. The singing swept us from being slightly self-conscious individuals into a powerful experience of collective flow.
It felt like flying, and also like being held in the warmest hug. As we sang, I felt the loving, spacious embrace of community. In this space, you don’t have to prove anything. Who you are is enough. You feel safe. You feel seen. You feel held. You feel cared for.
And just like a bird, the song takes wing, carrying the whole group of you off on those beautiful wings of sound.
It was truly like nothing I’d ever experienced.
– ROBERT FROST
From that day, I committed myself to learning this magical, alchemical art – the art of community songleading.
I attended every type of singing circle I could find, and soon found myself working as the music director for a large urban Waldorf school, where in addition to teaching music to grades 1 – 6, I also led three choruses, and also became trained and certified as a Waldorf grades teacher. One of the highlights of this time was learning from veteran Waldorf teachers who taught me many wonderful songs and musical games, some of which I still draw on to this day. Other musical mentors have included Anne Laskey, founder of the American Folk Song Collection, Mark Growden, founder of the Calling All Choir, and the many wonderful songleaders of the west coast singing circle movement alongside whom I continue to learn and grow.
– MARIA VON TRAPP
Today, fifteen years after that first wonderful singing circle experience, I’ve led literally thousands of musical gatherings, helping people of all ages discover the joy of making music in community. In every setting, my aim is to help people uncover the music within – to free their voice as an instrument of catharsis and connection.
Along the way, I’ve developed an approach to songleading that integrates vocal mechanics with embodiment practices, energy work and intuitive development, which I spent seven years studying on my road to becoming a spiritual counselor and ordained interfaith minister with the Foundation of the Sacred Stream.
I like to call my approach “authentic singing,” because it’s based on this truth – what you bring is enough. Wisdom, strength, clarity and belonging – all these live within you. Singing can help you live in deeper alignment with all that is right, true and good within you.
Come sing with me, and I’ll show you how!
Which brings us to you.
Wherever you’re at with singing, I’d love to help you open that channel to set free your fullest vocal expression.
In the coming months, I’ll be building up this website with some of my best resources – healing stories, meditations and songs to help you set your voice free and let it soar!
I hope you’ll find something here that may be of support to you.
With care,
Noe Venable
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