World Meditation Ensemble

Richard Vanceunebrouck-Werth (RVW), whose international recording and performing career has spanned more than 30 years. Spirit-FusionTM concerts include traditional and improvised material and original compositions by RVW. Audiences may hear Native American songs, Aboriginal dreamtime sounds, Japanese poetry, Buddhist sutra segments, Tahitian creation chant, Middle Eastern music from Sufi, Hindu, Judaic and Islamic traditions, Gregorian chant, and African dances.

Spirit-FusionTM concerts include traditional and improvised material and original compositions by RVW. Audiences may hear Native American songs, Aboriginal dreamtime sounds, Japanese poetry, Buddhist sutra segments, Tahitian creation chant, Middle Eastern music from Sufi, Hindu, Judaic and Islamic traditions, Gregorian chant, and African dances. Instrumental works are interspersed with songs and chants in languages including Sanskrit, Swahili, Japanese, Hebrew and Coast Salish.

The group's heartfelt intention is to embrace and share the gift of music as a bridge that unites our differences and invites audiences into deeper realms of connection, joy and participation in an awakened and compassionate world. Audiences can choose to resonate and respond, collectively and individually, with the universal spirit of humanity. Many listeners report a heart-opening experience, while others say they are energized and lifted by the ecstatic trance rhythms or the tranquility of Tibetan singing bowls.

Exotic instruments from around the world enhance the authenticity of the group's music: at some concerts, over a hundred instruments are played during the evening. But World Meditation Ensemble is anything but somber. They combine respectful presentation with lighthearted humor, literally playing with the audience in sing-alongs, occasional spontaneous dance and even poke fun at themselves with tongue-in-cheek segments. Past concerts have also been enhanced with aromatherapy and dance. Musical guests have included many local musicians, Grammy-awarded Tibetan flautist Nawang Kechog, Lama Kunga and Nada Naga, a group of shamanic sound healers from the Netherlands.

The venues that have hosted World Meditation Ensemble are as eclectic as their music. In addition to religious sites mentioned earlier, Benaroya Hall, the Seattle Sacred Music Festival, a Siberian Shamanic Celebration and benefits for the Seattle Parks Department have all enjoyed the group's meditational soundscapes. Members of the group have also appeared on recordings varying from shamanic trance to thantological transition music.

World Meditation Ensemble is an all-volunteer non-profit group that welcomes musicians, vocalists, dancers, marketing and production assistance and enjoys collaborating with other art forms.