The Whole World is Burning

Jennifer Berezan

Jennifer Berezan is a unique blend of singer/songwriter, producer, and activist. Over the course of ten albums, her music has been shaped by her lifelong involvement in environmental, women’s, and justice movements as well as Buddhist practice. Though her songs often confront universal issues, her perspective is informed by a refreshing and honest intimacy. Raised in the prairies of Alberta, Canada, the healing power of nature is also at the heart of her work. Her approach to music as a transformative experience creates a strong rapport with audiences from small venues to large events throughout the world. She is a leading voice in the field of music and healing and an acclaimed producer of large scale multi-cultural ecstatic musical events. She teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco in the department of Philosophy and Religion. Her on-going class (since 1997) is entitled “The Healing Ecstasy of Sound” and explores music as a spiritual practice from a wide range of traditional and contemporary perspectives. Perhaps nothing more fully expresses the spirit of Jennifer’s lifework than the recent performances of “Song For All Beings." A large-scale multimedia cirque de spirit, these events featured over 100 artists and included Bruce Cockburn, Joanna Macy, Ferron, Jack Kornfield, Anam Thubten Rinpoche, Sarah Dugas, Raz Kennedy, and many others. Song For All Beings Live! was released as a DVD/video recording of the 2017 show. Berezan traveled to South Korea in 2011 with co-producer don benedictson to record 250 Buddhist nuns from Un-munsa monastery. Their chanting is interwoven with voices from around the world to create the CD In These Arms, A Song for All Beings. This long-playing musical meditation based in the Buddhist practices of lovingkindness and compassion includes Dechen Shak-Dagsay (Tibet), Rita Sahai (India), Katia Cardenal (Nicaragua), Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield and many others. Home (2013) features her signature mix of emotionally rich songs, original guitar work, warm production, a collection of esteemed musical friends and themes that celebrate home wherever one finds it. The beautiful rendered songs find Jennifer at home in California, Beijing, the Yukon Canada, and the internal realms of the heart. In 2000 she journeyed to Malta to create Returning, a cross cultural chant-based recording. This breakthrough work pioneered her unique approach to creating extended, layered compositions. It wa

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