“First Moon Rising” offers an inspiring glimpse into the heart of the Maiden Spirit Spirituality and Rite-of-Passage program, which is the gradual and intentional preparation for a girl’s conscious and celebrated rite of passage into sacred womanhood at menarche (first moon or period).

Project web site

Through the work of Cascade Creative Productions I seek to create projects that are innovative, inspiring and challenging.

I strive to learn compassion, forgiveness and gratitude: from the people in my life and from humble, unexpected teachers.

I strive to learn new ways to lift up humanity’s awareness of constructive new/old ideas for a new millennium.

I will continue to reach out to those who are working toward the same goals. Good work, done in the spirit of cooperation and with a compassionate heart can and will change the world.

John Jordan-Cascade

“Unified Voice-Works: A Path to Healing, Integration and Performance” is now available for sale: https://www.createspace.com/323528. This is an instructional DVD featuring 11 original vocal exercises, hosted by Unified Voice-Works creator, singer/songwriter and voice therapist, Heather Hutton.

For more about Heather’s workshops, visit her web site: www.UnifiedVoiceWorks.com

About the Video
Your voice, whether through speaking or in song, is a powerful tool for creative expression and self-awareness. Now, through Unified Voice-Works, you can learn to harness this power and discover your full potential!

This DVD provides an introduction to the Unified Voice-Work, a holistic way of working with the voice that engages the body, mind, and spirit in a unified balance. Whether your interest lies more in developing your voice for performance or simply singing for the joy of it, the Unified Voice-Works exercises and holistic approach present a way of shifting physical patterns and beliefs that may be interfering with your vocal freedom and abilities.

Heather Hutton, singer-songwriter and experienced voice coach, skillfully guides you through 11 unique and in-depth exercises. Heather helps you step into a way of using your voice that both improves your singing and enhances the way you express yourself in the world.

An article about Heather appeared in February 2012 in the Grants Pass Daily Courier newspaper…Congrats, Heather!
The article is re-created below:

Finding their voices along a holistic path

By Edith Decker of the Daily Courier

TALENT – Matt Stern of Williams stands in the middle of Heather Hutton’s voice studio, doing some voice exercises – taking deep breathes with arms extending out, then wrapping in. Hutton places a hand on his back to indicate a spot he might want to try to relax and together, they begin to vocalize as a CD plays.

Stern says he’s played the guitar and enjoyed singing since he was a teen, but when he took a part-time job as a music activities director for Highland House, he thought he might tune up his voice skills. He turned to Hutton, a music teacher, director of the Rogue Valley Peace Choir and voice coach.

She’s a proponent of Unified Voice Works, a holistic and spiritual path to voice enhancement. “The voice is so connected to who we are,” she says.

Stern says he came to one of the workshops Hutton does monthly, along with his wife, Robin Gossett.

“I think I was thinking more technical,” he says of the help he hoped to receive.

She did have some technical advice, but the workshop also had an approach he hadn’t expected. He liked it so much, he repeated the workshop three times and also took private lessons. Gossett is in a singing circle, not a formal choir, but also learned from the experience. “The results are very tangible,” Gossett says. “In the space of five or 10 minutes people go from one way of singing to a totally new way of singing that is way more open and commanding more presence.”

The four-hour workshops have up to 10 people. “It’s sort of communal and individual,” Stern says. “It’s self-exploration.” The techniques have helped his work at Highland House, too. “It’s confidence. More confidence,” he says. “The biggest thing that this type of voice work does, it helps people integrate,” says Hutton. “It integrates their emotions, their body, into their voice.”

The workshops are open and Hutton gets everyone from professional singers to people who want to be more confident on karaoke night. Even non-singers come to the workshops to gain confidence in their speaking voices.

People can get emotional about singing, or while singing, Hutton says. Whether it’s because they were criticized as children, have worries unrelated to singing or other tensions, Hutton says, her efforts are in teaching people to relax, breathe, release tension “and then get the voice connected to that.”

Workshops begin with a poem and a “check in,” in which each person talks about why they’re at the workshop, any issues with their voices, and tell about themselves.  The group moves on to relaxation and deep breathing exercises. Then they add voice, call and response exercises, even making animal sounds, and finally singing.

Hutton says it’s important that participants not worry about pitch or melody, but letting the voice out. “A lot of people are afraid, ‘Am I going to make the right sound?’” she says. In this way, non-singers and musicians can both feel safe and comfortable in sharing their voices together, she says.

Hutton sees the process helping all sorts of people, such as children, troubled youth, victims of abuse.

After the music department at the elementary school where she worked was eliminated, she was laid off. Though she’s still substitute teaching, now Hutton’s able to devote more time to the voice work and hopes to begin workshops elsewhere.

After three years of work with a Eugene video producer, she recently completed a DVD for students and is making it available to the public also. See her website at www.heatherhutton.com for more about the DVD and workshops. Or call her at 541-531-1933.

Sangat Precision – American Made!

Angie’s web site is not yet live, but will be posted here as soon as it is available.

I would be happy to create this kind of video for you and/or your group as well. Please inquire about pricing, as it depends on several factors, including the footage needed to complete what you envision and the total running time of the final edit.

This clip, produced for Marieke Shuurs, appears on the ElegantM web site.

Two more video clips that represent his views, which are based on his life experiences and a philosophycalled Vedanta:

I Am Fear’s Companion – My Father’s Teachings – Part 2

The Search for Truth – My Father’s Teachings – Part 3

Hope you enjoy the clips. My father is an amazing man!

John