Team of coaches 2025

Zuza Gonçalves
Brazil Sāo Paulo

Meet Zuza Gonçalves, the visionary co-creator behind the Música do Círculo project, the Circle Music Retreat Brazil, and the founder of Sampa Circlesongs. With over two decades of experience as a musician and artist educator, Zuza has been at the forefront of pioneering collective music experiences.

 

 

As an esteemed educator at the Sesc Vila Mariana Music Center and a member of the faculty for Bobby McFerrin’s Circlesongs Workshop at the prestigious Omega Institute in New York, Zuza brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the IFNL retreat. Drawing on the principles of Música do Círculo, he will guide us through an immersive journey of collective singing, fostering a space where voices unite and resonate in shared musical expression.

 

 

Zuza’s unique approach empowers participants to not only sing together but also to sing for each other, creating a transformative and interconnected musical experience. Join us at IFNL as we embrace the transformative power of music With Zuza Gonçalves as one of the teachers, where the joy of communal singing becomes a celebration of shared expression and connection.

 

Sofia Ribeiro
Portugal

Sofia Ribeiro is a singer, composer, improviser and educator from Portugal. With a solid background in jazz studies, a deep connection to Portuguese traditional music and endless hours of listening to Brazilian legendary musicians, Sofia’s artistry challenges the boundaries of music labels. With ten albums as a leader, she has been performing intensively in Europe, South America and United States for the past 15 years.

 

Between 2015 and 2019 she lived in New York City, and worked as an artist in residence at the Carnegie Hall. For the past two years, she was part of the faculty at Bobby McFerrin’s Circle Songs course in Omega Institute. In 2019 she was a speaker at TEDx CESA (Colombia).

While teaching, performing and improvising, Sofia explores the endless potentiality of vocal improvisation as a way to transform yourself; a journey towards authenticity, vulnerability and deep connection to one another.

 

The soloing journey

Discover new tools for improving your soloing skills, adding more musical diversity, expansion and direction to your solos.

Connecting voices

Vocal improvisation structures and games that specially focus on deep listening, supporting and connecting to one another.

 

Tiago
Porto Portugal

Meet RIZUMIK: An Artistic Dynamo

 

RIZUMIK, the dynamic artist born in Lisbon and seasoned by global experiences in Barcelona, Macau, and New York, epitomizes artistic expression as a profound connection to the source. A versatile talent as a teacher, performer, dancer, actor, vocalist, and more, Rizumik is renowned for his exceptional rhythmical and improvisational skills.

 

 

As a key faculty member of the CIRCLESONGS course at Omega Institute alongside Bobby McFerrin, a 10-time Grammy-Award winner, Rizumik shares his unique techniques in beatbox, percussion, vocal improvisation, and circle singing. Beyond traditional boundaries, he extends his influence to various communities, including Vocal improvisation, Ecstatic Dance, 5 Rhythms, Yoga, Sound Meditation, and the iconic Burning Man festival.

 

 

Rizumik’s stellar career includes performances in CIRQUE DU SOLEIL™ shows, lead roles in THE VOCA PEOPLE™, and captivating Off-Broadway audiences. Recognized with accolades like BEST VOCAL PERCUSSION at the 2017 Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella competition and the 2012 AMERICAN BEATBOX CHAMPION, RIZUMIK is a force to be reckoned with.

 

 

In collaboration with a diverse array of artists, he continues to push artistic boundaries, leaving an inspiring legacy in rhythm, sound, and movement. RIZUMIK’s artistry is not just an expression; it’s a celebration of the boundless possibilities within the realms of improvisation and performance.

Roberto Demo
Torino, Italy

Roberto Demo does several activities as vocal technique teacher, a scientific researcher on vocal potential and as a vocalist in studios and on stage in Italy, Europe, and America collaborating with high-level international musicians, in different groups, from vocal solo to bigger bands and vocal groups.

As a very experienced musician and vocalist, Roberto Demo is offering a variety of tools you can use while singing, improve your skills by working with him. His knowledge of the voice, music and, improvising makes him unique as a teacher   

 

 

The Orchestra in the Mouth

                               Can you make your voice sound like a trumpet, a flute, a cello, a violin, a guitar, a harmonica or as a percussion set ? Your Voice has an incredible potential!

 

Singfulness “on stage”

                               Free vocal improvisation and Circlesinging, increasing your personal consciousness. Train your ears rhythm, melody and harmony wise            to develop your improv skills. Patterns, Soloing…  Listening and Silence !!

Nick Demeris
USA New York

Nick Demeris is a two time TEDx participant (speaker and host), actor, singer, and facilitator of community building through music, turning audiences into orchestras all around the globe.

In his fourth year as a singer, creator, and teaching artist at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Nick works with master musicians, Public School teachers, aspiring artists, and young people in the juvenile justice system, to improvise, write, produce, and record original music: National Youth Orchestra (USA), Boston Children’s Chorus, Commedia Dell’Opera – OTOYOTOY, ITAC 4, Future Music Project, and member of Moving Star Ensemble.

Nick travels the globe performing original music and teaching #humaninstruments workshops at retreats and conferences internationally. In the last three years alone he has toured this work to China, Thailand, Guatemala, Australia, Canada, Mexico, India, Denmark, Portugal, Hawaii, Colombia, Germany, and all across the U.S.

He has worked with Carnegie Hall, UNICEF, Target, Apple, Ogilvy & Mather, Spotify, Guild Mortgage, BGM (China), ITAC, Purpose Campaigns, Accept Email, the Big Quiet, 100kin10, the University of Chicago, University of Minnesota, Illinois State University, Love the 88, Esalen Institute, the Omega Institute, the World Social Forum (Montreal), Mixed Blood Theatre, Arena Stage, Shakespeare & Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Paramount Theatre, Sydney Children’s Hospital (Australia) and Sesame Street (HBO).

Kees Kool
Arnhem , Netherlands

Kees Kool is an experienced and gifted improviser. He started to improvise after meeting Bobby McFerrin in Omega 2005  He gives workshops in Amerika, Germany Italy, Ukraine and is a guest teacher at Sibelius Academy in Finland Europe Performing in the moment is what he loves to share. He invented a lot of games that are helpful to learn the musical roles and element in vocal improvisation. Here gives solo concerts and sings with Pop-up vocal band, RIV The Rotterdam ImproVoices, and collaborated in different projects with Dutch Dreams      

 

workshop: the playground we create (open for all, please come and try)

 

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