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Doreen Rao with Bill Perison
Published by Boosey & Hawkes, 2005

Circle of Sound introduces the contemplative arts of meditation and the martial arts to the field of music performance and music education, creating an innovative and cross-cultural blending of Eastern traditions with Western practices related to musical performance.

Circle of Sound is dedicated to the art of singing as a cross-cultural, transformative and inclusive musical practice – a human practice inspired by diversity, a healing practice rooted in ancient history, and a mindfulness practice for music education in the world today.

Circle of Sound Voice Education represents an important first step toward a vocal pedagogy grounded in and emergent from the natural human condition... It suggests bold alternatives to traditional pedagogical practices, alternatives that treat music as a natural human fact, an essential way of being human, and a point of access to a dimension of human experience that is both unique and profoundly important to our individual and collective lives.

(From the forward by Wayne D. Bowman, Brandon University, Manitoba, Canada)

Reviewed by American Music Teacher (Oct/Nov 2005): “This small, inexpensive and easy-to-read book, full of pictures and detailed explanations of the suggested exercises, is a "must read" for all choral conductors. ...I would recommend the book highly to all voice teachers as well, regardless of the level of singers with whom they work, simply because of the philosophy and world-view presented about singing and sound, as parts of life and as tools for spiritual growth.”