SONIA MARIE KAZAROVA

Sonia Marie Kazarova is a New Country Artist Singer Songwriter. Sonia is also a Grammy Nominated Opera Singer, Actress & Philanthropist.

She is Colorado native, born in WheatRidge and raised in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains on a small ranch outside Boulder. Sonia’s cross-genre ‘Country Opera’ “DESPERADO DEBUTANTE” celebrates the storytelling that she fell in love with as a kid listening to country on the radio & the sweeping stories she sang in opera. Influenced by the greats of early country music such as The Carter Family, Tom T Hall, Dolly Parton, Waylon, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Bobby Bare, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, George Straight, Clint Black, the trinity of Twitty, Twain, & Tanya Tucker. Sonia has performed worldwide as Tosca, Norma, and Salome to name a few, and is known for groundbreaking genre-bending combining her operatic vocals with polyrhythmic Afro-beats, pop, jazz, taiko drumming, blues, gospel, Regge, spoken word and hip hop.

These collaborations led her to a Grammy nomination. This honor inspired Sonia Marie to follow her dreams, and tell the stories so close to her heart. At last arriving back home where she began in Colorado. This new ‘Country Opera’ genre brings Sonia’s rich theatrical style of storytelling with full orchestration inside country music tradition. The blend of these two art forms is a beautiful alchemy offering sweet country melodies and a great big opera heart. Miss Sonia is bringing Opera back to the Opry!

RAINE PIYÂKO

Young Ashaninka leader Raine Piyãko has been accompanying his father, world-renowned spiritual and environmental leader Benki Piyãko, in his works since early childhood.

Raine began his pajé (master shaman) apprenticeship a decade ago under his father’s and grandfather’s auspices. His maternal grandfather Aricemi is also one of Benki’s teachers and one of the highest regarded Sheripiari (tobacco shaman) in the Western Amazon.

Raine is a composer of traditional Ashaninka songs and a talented musician. He is the Vice President of the healing and reforestation center, Institute Yorenka Tasorentsi, in the Brazilian Amazon. 

Coming from a lineage of ‘Antaviari’ (direct messenger of God in Ashaninka culture), Raine is steeped in the most profound shamanic traditions of the Amazon.

BENKI PIYÂKO

Benki has been referred to as a leading spiritual leader from the Amazon. He comes from an Antaviari lineage in Ashaninka culture, a term meaning “a direct Messenger of God “. Benki has embraced the struggle for the rights of his community since his teens, replanting over 2.5 million trees. In 2007, as a Secretary of Environment Acre, Brazil, he inaugurated the Yorenka Ãtame agroforestry center, where he began to rehabilitate drug and alcohol addicted youth by teaching them to work with Nature.

He thus brought people and endangered animal/plant species together again. He also created the world’s first eco-market which exchanges plastic for food in Amazonia. Benki has helped many indigenous groups to recover their culture. He is a recipient of the UN Equator Prize alongside his community, Apiwtxa. More recently, he has created the Yorenka Tasorentsi Educational and Spiritual Institute to pursue his environmental and spiritual work.

Daniel Sundahl (DanSun) is a published artist and writer and has three (3) art books 
produced of his works. Articles of his work are featured in several international publications. His art is recognized worldwide, and he travels internationally, speaking about his art and personal 
experiences with occupational stress injuries and post-traumatic growth. He is an 
advanced care paramedic, pre-hospital educator, a retired firefighter, photographer 
and photo editor.

NATE ZELEZNICK

Nate Zeleznick, is the trailblazing Founder of the White Dove Method, an extraordinary fusion of ancient wisdom and science. For 500+ years, the Kings of Java, Indonesia, safeguarded their secrets of energetic martial arts, meditation, breathwork, and perception.

In 1999 Nate became the first non-Indonesian person ever granted permission to bring these time-honored practices to the U.S., revolutionizing the realms of breathwork, meditation, personal energy development, energy healing, and reproducible superhuman abilities.

With his captivating presence, Nate engages audiences worldwide as a sought-after keynote speaker, master trainer, and spiritual leader. Having triumphed over life-and-death situations, he has become the driving force behind one of the ONLY U.S. schools authorized to teach these awe-inspiring capabilities.

DAVID NEPTUNE

David is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, musician and instrument producer based in Los Angeles. 

Born and raised in Japan, David was influenced from a young age by his father John Kaizan Neptune who is a renowned shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) player. 

Inspired by the deep nature of Japan and his father’s music, David takes a heart-centered, joyful approach to music and improvised collaboration. He is currently producing the ‘Takeda,” an entirely new bamboo drum invented by his father. 

David’s documentary work as a story producer includes “Street Food” on Netflix, “Marvel’s 616” on Disney+, and a current Hulu original series, “Mastermind” set to release in 2024. 

His debut feature film, “Words Can’t Go There” released in 2019, is a personal look at his father’s life and the dynamics between passion and family. 

David focuses on the same intention with his music and films – to inspire people to open their hearts and let their inner sun shine through. 

More About David Neptune and his Takeda Drum at :

Filmmaking site: www.fromneptune.com

Takeda Drum site: www.takedadrum.com

Socials:

@tunetown

@takedadrum

Trailer to “Words Can’t Go there:”

GEORGE KARPASITIS

George Karpasitis’ language is music. He is a Los Angeles based music composer, producer, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his lyrical guitar style. He has performed and recorded internationally, in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, such as Abbey Road Studios in London, UK.

He was born and raised on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where from a young age he was exposed to the local sounds of Greek and Middle Eastern music, as well as The Beatles and Louis Armstrong, through his dad’s audio cassette collection. His relentless love for music led him to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Guitar Performance from the London Centre of Contemporary Music, and a Master’s Degree in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music.

As of 2023, George has released two albums of original compositions for solo classical guitar (‘Sounds of Mar Vista’, 2019 and ‘Breakwater’ 2020), and has worked in the music department for more than 20 films, including titles by Disney and Discovery Plus. His debut single as a singer-songwriter, titled ‘Speaking of Love’, was released in 2021. He has also recorded and produced artists such as ceremonial songstress Winter Jendayi (‘Hilos Sagrados’, 2022), world music duo Corasonho (‘Ebo’, 2022) and singer-songwriter Wesley Sol (‘Om Shreem/Nas Aguas’, 2022).

He is currently creating the sound and music of ‘Palmares’, a historically based Capoeira action musical that will be performed as part of the Hollywood Fringe festival throughout June 2023. He is also producing the upcoming debut EP by the Golden Sisters collective, who bridge culture, tradition and language through their songs. His next personal release, titled ‘Sounds of Rajasthan’ will be a collection of mantras he learned during his recent travels to India.

When he is not creating music, George enjoys meditation, martial arts, travel and long walks in nature, where he finds inspiration.

FRIEDA BIRNBAUM, PHD

Frieda Birnbaum, PhD is a research psychologist and psychotherapist in Saddle River, New Jersey and the award-winning author of LIFE BEGINS AT 60: A New View of Motherhood, Marriage, and Reinventing Ourselves and WHAT PRICE POWER: An In-Depth Study of the Professional Woman in a Relationship.

An expert on topics such as family dynamics, parenthood, relationships, addiction, anxiety and depression, Dr Frieda is a seasoned media personality and commentator who is adept at discerning the psychological underpinnings of current issues and parsing the psychological profiles of various newsmakers- politicians, celebrities, criminals, etc.

Notably, Dr. Frieda is the oldest woman in America to give birth to twins. The mother of five, her youngest sons were born when she was 60, lending her a unique perspective on issues related to parenting and empowering women at any age.