Ya Elah is a group born out of a longing to illuminate the beauty, mystery and power of the world's many Spiritual Paths. Our music combines the sacred texts and liturgies of many traditions to reveal the deep knowing of our hearts, that all life is one. We send these songs out as prayers on the breath of our hearts. May they help to bring healing and a sense of wonder at the ways we have named and connected to the Divine.

Ya Elah's Vocalists are: Marsha Attie, Cyrise Beatty, Stephanie Bernstein, Alisa Fineman, Nina Perlman, Melita Siberstein and artistic director Bon Singer.

Gari Hegedus ('ud, percussion)

Gari Hegedus is regarded as an exceptionally accomplished string player. His talent is expressed on the violin, viola, 'ud, sarod, saz, setar, tar, sarangi, and a range of other stringed instruments, including the bowed tambur and mandecello. Gary's musical endeavors began with the study of early European, Celtic, and Breton music. This was the start of a fruitful journey, which led him to intense study and performance of Turkish classical and Mevlevi ceremonial music. He is a core member of the acclaimed group Stellamara, contributing much to its rich and varied sounds.

In addition to his instrumental proficiency, he is perhaps most recognized for his remarkable compositional skills and his signature, deeply soulful style and beautifully rich improvisations.

Shira Kammen (vielle, harp, violin d'amore)

Shira Kammen received her degree in music from UC Berkeley and studied vielle with Margaret Tindemans. A member for many years of Ensemble Alcatraz, Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Boston Camerata, and the King's Noyse. She is also the founder of ClassV Music, an ensemble dedicated to performance on river rafting trips. She has performed and taught in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Israel, Morocco, and Japan, and on the Colorado and Rogue rivers. She had been featured on numerous early music and folk music recordings.

Shira happily collaborated with vocalist John Fleagle for fifteen years, and now performs with several new groups: a medieval ensemble, Fortune's Wheel; a new music group, Ephemeros; an eclectic ethnic band, Panacea; and Trouz Bras, a band devoted to the dance music of Celtic Brittany.

Tim Rayborn (percussion, psaltery, sehtar, santur)

Though raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Tim Rayborn lived for nearly seven years in England, where he completed a Ph.D. on the early crusades at the University of Leeds, and worked in the field of early music. He founded and directed Ensemble Florata, whose recordings for London-based ASV/Gaudeamus received international critical acclaim. In addition, he worked with the noted British medieval ensemble Tintagel, and performed with them on BBC broadcasts, Belgian live radio, and in Majorca, as well as their tour of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S.

Tim has toured the UK and continental Europe extensively, and worked with traditional musicians in Marrakech and Istanbul, as well as being invited to collaborate with Persian classical musicians in Iran. He plays more than 30 musical instruments. He has recently completed two new solo CDs.

Dylan Eliyahu Sills ( flutes)

Eliyahu Sills studied jazz performance on the upright bass at the New School ofJazz in NYC in the early 1990's, performing as sideman as well as a band leader in renowned jazz clubs such as The Village Gate and Small's. After leaving New York he fell in love with the flute, and choose to teach himself to play the ancient instrument in order to apply his theories of music education on himself. Eliyahu soon fell under the spell of sufi music of Turkey and the reed flute of the middle east, the Nay, as well as the bamboo flute of India, the Bansuri. He began to study and perform on these instruments under the guidance of the masters Omar Faruk Tekbilek and Steve Gorn, and is now a dedicated student of the world renowned master of Bansuri, G.S. Sachdev (www.bansuri.net/gssachdev). Eliyahu currently performs middle eastern music on the Nay with Za'atar (Zaatar.web.com), African folk music on the upright and electric bass with thePalm Wine Boys (www.palmwineboys.com), Indian Ragas on the Bansuri in a duo with Jason Ranjit Parmar, with the woman's vocal group Ya Elah (www.YaElah.com) on upright bass, silver flute, nay, and bansuri. He also freelances as leader and sideman in various projects. He has recently recorded "Breath" a CD of meditative flute music.

Each of Us