CRS invites you to experience a unique evening of meditation, live music and sharing with Inga Benson of Integral Yoga Institute NYC & singer/songwriter/trumpeter Rhys Tivey & friends (vocalist Joy Elysse and guitarist Thomas Monkell). The program will take place on Sunday, May 7, 2017 at 6 pm. Tickets are $20 and are available by phone (212-677-8621), online and at the door.

Movement and seated meditation precede a concert of folk-fusion to create a journey of song and sound. Led by dance therapist and yoga and meditation teacher, Inga Benson, participants are guided through movement and meditation to gently release unconscious tension and access deepened awareness of body, breath, and sound. Out of the stillness of meditation, Rhys Tivey and friends tap into the healing qualities of music and storytelling to perform a careful selection of originals and cover songs (Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, and more) and lead participants on a folk-fusion song journey. This workshop-performance is an opportunity for participants to connect within themselves, and with one another through sharing before and after, and with the experience of song-listening.

Inga (Ishwari) Benson, E-RYT500, LCAT, BC-DMT, MS, SYT, is Integral Yoga certified in Levels I and II, Therapeutic Yoga, Prenatal/ Post-Partum Yoga and is certified as a Structural Yoga therapist from Mukunda Stiles. She has been a Yoga teacher for 16 years and is also a Licensed Creative Art Therapist and a Board-Certified Dance/Movement Therapist. She uses Yoga and Dance/Movement Therapy to help cultivate body awareness and breath support as a foundation for emotional regulation and self expression. She has been an Integral Yoga Teacher Trainer for Basic TT since 2008, has also led Children’s TT and Prenatal TT, and currently supervises Dance Therapy interns during the school year.

Joy Elysse is a Brooklyn-based vocalist and composer who creates cinematic, genre-bending music. After receiving her BA in English Literature from Princeton University, Elysse has subsequently spent her time in NYC exploring wide-ranging sounds and styles while performing in jazz, folk, indie-soul, and psychedelic salsa groups. In the Fall of 2016, she released “Eve,” a lush dreamscape that marks her debut single as a solo artist, and her debut EP is set to arrive in early Summer 2017. http://elyssemusic.com
Thomas Monkell is a NYC based guitarist, composer, and arranger. As a guitarist, Tom has performed internationally in China and throughout North America with the concert tour Broadway Rox. Tom has also played guitar for the Broadway productions of Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Matilda, and Chicago. Tom’s guitar orchestrations were featured in the New York Times Critics’ Pick Off-Broadway production of The Pen as part of the 2016 Inner Voices new musical series. Other Off-Broadway credits include: Gigantic, Wringer, and Shoes and Baggage. http://tommonkell.weebly.com

Rhys Tivey is a singer, trumpeter, songwriter, and yoga teacher. He received his yoga training from the Integral Yoga Institute. With a background in jazz performance (NYU-Steinhardt), Tivey crafts an eclectic and wholly unique mixture of folk, rock, soul, and jazz for performances in New York City (Cutting Room, Cornelia St Cafe, Mercury Lounge…), and has performed internationally (Mexico, Italy, Wales, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic). See rhystivey.com for recent recording samples.