Leah Hokanson
Leah is a lifelong adventurer of music, sound and listening—as a group facilitator, community choir leader, vocalist, pianist, improviser and singer/songwriter. She is co-founder (with Lynette Jackson) of Sound, Belonging & Wholeness, offering programs that explore vocal sounding and focused listening as portals to Presence, healing and transformation. She also directs the Song Keepers Women’s Choir and the JoySounds choir, both on Gabriola Island. She’s worked with many esteemed vocal artists and sound healing pioneers, including Chloé Goodchild, Jill Purce, Rhiannon, and Karina Schelde. Leah holds a master’s degree in piano performance and has served in music ministry for various churches and spiritual organizations for the past 40 years.
Leah has composed and recorded a number of “Diamond Chants”—musical settings of ecstatic poetry by Rumi, Hafiz, Hildegard of Bingen and others. She has also written, produced, and performed two albums of original songs: Facets (2019) and Portals (2021).
Events with Leah Hokanson
Contemporary Ecstatic Chanting (April)April 9, 2023
Since time immemorial, humans have gathered in spiritual communities to sing and chant together. Community singing is, in essence, community building—opening us to our sense of shared humanity, and to Spirit, Source, the Divine (whatever language you choose) through voicing a common purpose and intention together. Leah Hokanson will lead a monthly Contemporary Ecstatic Chanting gathering. The chants are “Diamond Chants”—original musical compositions, written by Leah, to be accessible to all regardless of singing ability. Playfully referred to as “ecstatic pop,” Diamond Chants blend the simplicity of the chant form, the wisdom and inspiration of ecstatic poetry, and the eclectic…
Contemporary Ecstatic Chanting (May)May 14, 2023
Since time immemorial, humans have gathered in spiritual communities to sing and chant together. Community singing is, in essence, community building—opening us to our sense of shared humanity, and to Spirit, Source, the Divine (whatever language you choose) through voicing a common purpose and intention together. Leah Hokanson will lead a monthly Contemporary Ecstatic Chanting gathering. The chants are “Diamond Chants”—original musical compositions, written by Leah, to be accessible to all regardless of singing ability. Playfully referred to as “ecstatic pop,” Diamond Chants blend the simplicity of the chant form, the wisdom and inspiration of ecstatic poetry, and the eclectic…
Contemporary Ecstatic Chanting (June)June 11, 2023
Since time immemorial, humans have gathered in spiritual communities to sing and chant together. Community singing is, in essence, community building—opening us to our sense of shared humanity, and to Spirit, Source, the Divine (whatever language you choose) through voicing a common purpose and intention together. Leah Hokanson will lead a monthly Contemporary Ecstatic Chanting gathering. The chants are “Diamond Chants”—original musical compositions, written by Leah, to be accessible to all regardless of singing ability. Playfully referred to as “ecstatic pop,” Diamond Chants blend the simplicity of the chant form, the wisdom and inspiration of ecstatic poetry, and the eclectic…