This workshop is geared towards the discovery of our voice’s potential to allow us to express from the heart, and thus bring forth our spiritual power. We will first engage in several exercises to help us discover the great instrument that we all have in our own voice for healing and achieving harmony – one of the most powerful tools used by all civilizations on Earth since immemorial times to connect deeply within ourselves and unblock our energy.


The voice is one’s identity mark, our soul’s expression, a jewel: no two voices are the same, and that’s why our own is unique. When we connect with our inner sound through the voice, from the heart, we awaken our true, latent power. Using the voice after setting an intention can help us reach unimaginable levels of liberation and experiment deep states of fulfilment and happiness, besides allowing us to heal and break down barriers separating us from ourselves and others, expanding our levels of awareness. In this workshop we will do group exercises, exploring their playfulness and liveliness, tapping into improvisation´s great possibilities in order to reconnect with that marvelous tool we all have. Together, we will experience the voice as a vibration which is inside of us and that we project onto our environment, having an effect on those who hear us, as well as in ourselves; and we will then understand that, aligning the voice to our heart´s purpose, we have a tool with endless possibilities. The exercises and techniques we use come from different sources, mainly from the Sufi tradition, in order to become attuned with vibrating energy. Some of the movement exercises are aimed at opening the heart; we will learn Sufi mantras, how to do group vocal improvisations, we will venture into visual creativity, followed by a session of Healing Sufi Music (Andalusi and Middle-Eastern Music Therapy) using live music to bring harmony and balance to all aspects of our being. And much more!

IMPORTANT: It’s not necessary to have any musical training in order to participate in this workshop: just come open to share, to enjoy, to learn and to expand your awareness


INSTRUCTOR IGNACIO BÉJAR

Master performer in a great variety of traditional musical instruments, composer, musical researcher, cultural promoter, producer and music therapist–he has participated in many concerts in festivals, in World Heritage spaces and theaters, in countries such as Turkey, England, Germany, Austria, Morocco, Portugal or Spain. The search for a universal language through music, and the rescuing of the ritualistic and healing function of this art form in all traditional cultures from earliest times –which helped connect man with nature and with the spiritual realm to achieve unity within the group and the environment—lies behind Ignacio’s work.
In addition to his work as composer and performer for representative World Music groups like THE ALCHEMIST HAT, AKASHA SOUND, CARAVASAR, KHAIRKAN, ESTANBUL, or RIFAK, among the many with which he has performed in theaters and festivals internationally, Ignacio has studied Sufi Music and Middle-Eastern music therapy with Istanbul’s Dr. Orç Givenç, who imparts his classes in the age-old tradition of oral transmission, from teacher to pupil and from generation to generation; he has performed as a musician in SEMA rituals, or Whirling Dervishes, in Spain, Turkey, Austria and Germany; and as member of the group TUMATA, researching and performing ritual music in Central Asia, as well as Sufi music.

He has published two solo CDs, Towards the Light (2013), Spikey: A Dream´s Story (2000); and recordings with groups such as The Alchemist´s Hat (2009), Mediterranean Minarets (2006) with the group CARAVASAR, and A Journey through Sound (2012) with AKASHA SOUND.
Ignacio has created sound tracks for several films and documentaries, and has written and performed the music for the book on meditation techniques Sofrodinamia, by the therapist Dr. Armando Nogués, and has studied with the Argentinian music therapist Isabel Luñovsky (Musitando).
He divides his time between his work as an artist and the concerts for teaching. Besides the workshops and sessions of Healing Sufi Music, Ignacio has collaborated in Middle-Eastern Music Therapy activities with healer Khalib Stanfield in Austria, and with Jordi Delclos in Barcelona.
Together with Svetlana Ilina, Ignacio Béjar founded the Center for Artistic and Wellbeing Activities RUBAYAT in 2009. He is the organizer of festivals such as MUSIC WITHOUT BORDERS; the I, II and III Cycle of World Music at the University of Málaga; or the I, II, III, IV Cycle of World Music at the Cueva del Tesoro (Rincón de la Victoria).

First Cycle of Soul’s Music: Bil Bil Castle in Benalmádena (Málaga)
With of Svetlana Luz
Come and take part in the Dance and Heart´s Alchemy Laboratory
Participate in workshops on the use of the Ney as meditation and self-knowledge tool, and on Sufi music for creativity and awareness.

Ignacio Béjar uses the following musical instruments for his concerts and workshops:
Voice
Oud (Arabic lute)
Turkish Ney (Sufi flute)
Turkish clarinet
Tibetan bowls
Bass clarinet
Rebab
Shruty boz
Lyre
Kotamo
Handsonic

Healing Sufi Music (Eastern Musicotheraphy), is based on the rules of Sufi music and uses the Oriental scales (Makams) to balance the body, mind and soul, so that each “makam” creates different moods and heals the targeted organ. This centuries-old healing technique, with roots in Central Asia, was used in Al-Andalus, in places like the Maristán Hospital in the Albaycín Borough of Granada