Description
September 6-7, 2024 at Unity of Walnut Creek, 1871 Geary Road, Walnut Creek, CA 94597 925-937-2191
Join the music team of Unity of Walnut Creek, Daniel Nahmod, Melinda Wood Allen, and Sue Riley for an empowering, informative two days. The Friday night PosiPalooza concert, all Saturday workshops, and Saturday lunch are included in the price. Plan to stay and experience the Sunday morning celebration.
Schedule:
Friday Sept 6: 2:00-2:45 Registration
3:00-3:30: Opening Music and Heart Centering
3:40-5:00: Daniel Nahmod Workshop: Making it Count-Maximizing the Musical Moment
You’re up. It’s time. The room goes quiet. The lights go down. Your microphone switches on. The audience turns to you. And for a precious few minutes, they’re yours, and they’re ready… to be entertained. Inspired. Moved. Comforted. Changed.
The question is, are you ready?
In this powerful and practical workshop, Daniel examines in detail the many decisions that go into a live musical performance — whether consciously made or not — and how those decisions ultimately determine the impact of that performance. Take an insider’s guided tour of such critical factors as instrumentation, staging, choice of material, song structure, sound reinforcement, lyrical effectiveness, spoken introductions, context, pacing, vocal and instrumental self-awareness, humor, dynamics, audience engagement, and much more… all with the intention of empowering you to make the greatest possible difference, have the greatest possible impact, leave the greatest possible emotional and spiritual imprint, every single time you perform.
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or relatively new to the stage, this workshop is sure to shine a light on specific, manageable steps you can take, right now, to take your own musical moments to the next level.
5:00-6:45 Dinner on your Own
7:00-9:00 Posi Palooza featuring Daniel Nahmod, Melinda Wood Allen, and Sue Riley (included in your registration)
Saturday: Sept 7 9:00-9:45am “Greet the Day” morning music and inspiration featuring Daniel Nahmod, Melinda Wood Allen, and Sue Riley
10:00-11:00: Music to Music Ministry with Melinda Wood Allen and Sue Riley
How do you take an assortment of soloists and musicians within a church and weave them into a music ministry dedicated to sharing the mission and vision of the church? Musicians and congregations will all enjoy and benefit from this uplifting transformation from a variety of dedicated singers into a harmonious, integrated music ministry!
11:15-12:30: Melinda Wood Allen Putting Your Best Voice Forward
Caring for your voice is as important as caring for your body or spirit. It is perhaps the most important instrument you use to communicate and serve your community. Keeping it healthy is paramount to your ministry.
In this active, singing workshop Melinda will lead you in exercises to keep your voice healthy, flexible and reliable, help you work on finding your true range (which she assures you is bigger than you probably think), and avoid common pitfalls. She’ll even assist you in developing your own practices for healthy singing every day.
12:30-1:45pm Lunch (provided)
2:00-3:30pm: Daniel Nahmod-Singer/Songwriter Master Class
Daniel Nahmod is the composer of over 2,000 songs (including many of Unity’s most popular and performed congregational and solo pieces), producer of more than 30 albums, acclaimed performer for over 2 million people, and an experienced and passionate teacher of songwriting and performance. In this workshop, Daniel will listen to your original song, whether live or recorded, and offer his insights into maximizing its impact lyrically, melodically, musically, and from a performance perspective. With compassion, honesty, humor, and perceptiveness gained from 25 years of experience, he’ll use your own piece of music as a practical teaching tool to take your work to the next level. Plus you’ll gain valuable insights from listening to your fellow participants’ songs, and Daniel’s analyses as well!
2:-3:00: New Thought Music Resources: Sue Riley and Melinda Wood Allen
One of the most common questions is where do you find music resources that reflect the unique theology of Unity? Sue and Melinda have been music directors for over 30 years each and they have some great resources that will make your job easier. We’ll sing through a few new songs also and show you great ways to incorporate powerful, easy New Thought congregational songs into your music ministry.
3:45-4:00 Break
4:00-5:30pm: Spirit Sharing and Closing Circle
This is your chance to let your light shine! Share a song with your fellow attendees. Then, join Sue, Melinda, and Daniel as we close our beautiful time together with music and affirmations.
Bios:
Daniel Nahmod has performed his profound original inspirational music for over two million people in 45 U.S. states and Canada, receiving literally thousands of standing ovations along the way. Heartfelt and humorous, emotional and intimate, deeply skilled and unabashedly human, spontaneous and yet somehow thoroughly prepared, Daniel has a seemingly magical way of moving audiences to unexpected introspection and insight, spiritual connection, real joy, raucous laughter, deep peace of mind, and tears of healing… often within the same song!
Rev. Melinda Wood Allen was a Unity Music minister for over 27 years before attending seminary. She is now senior minister of the Church of One Love in Dallas, TX. She served on UWM’s Music Ministry team from 2006-2013, and is currently on the advisory board of Empower Music and Arts.
Melinda (or Rev Mel) is a classically trained musician and award-winning singer/songwriter/actress who performs professionally across genres from Classical to Jazz, rock to gospel, musical theatre to folk and country. (She even yodeled for a US tour with the Michael Martin Murphy band.)
Sue Riley Bio: Co-Founder of emPower Music & Arts, which hosts the yearly empower Music Festival and provides thousands of songs, sheet music, licensing and other resources to our ministries, Sue believes in the power of New Thought music to touch hearts and heal lives. Sue is an accomplished singer, songwriter, musician, and speaker, who served as Music Ministry Team Chair for eleven years, helping create a body of music for our churches. She has created and organized dozens of conferences and events that serve our ministries by training music directors to be more effective leaders and making new music continuously available.In ad dition to visiting hundreds of churches across the country as a speaker, musician, and workshop leader, Sue has been the Music Director at Unity Church of Clearwater for over thirty years and is part of their leadership team.
Sue serves on Unity Worldwide Ministries Board of Trustees, the Board of Directors for Summersongs, INC, and is also the Chairperson for the UWM’s Music Ministry Team.
