Chiara Cortez

Teacher, lyricist, vocal improviser, promoter and facilitator of circlesinging and Nonviolent Empathic Communication. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Stanford University in California, during which time she also gained experience as a singer and arranger in the world music a cappella group “Talisman”, a cappella group of world music with whom she has won a CARA award. In Italy, her musical journey began with 10 years’ private study of the violin as an instrument. She then studied jazz singing with Susanna Stivali at Saint Louis College of Music and sang for 11 years with the female vocal ensemble “The Sessions Voices”, with whom she recorded two albums, “Songs of Freedom” (2011) and “Tender You Back”(2017).

As a songwriter in collaboration with Maurizio Filardo, she has written and sang for the soundtracks of various films and TV series (“Beata Ignoranza”, “The Place”, “Non ci resta che il Crimine”, “Domani è Un’Altro Giorno”, “Immaturi”, “I Migliori Giorni”).
She discovered the world ofvcirclesinging and Vocal River (Rhiannon’s forms of collaborative vocal improvisation) and has been studying these disciplines, traveling to train with masters in the field and to research various styles and approaches. Among the trainings she has completed are: Rhiannon’s annual masterclass on vocal improvisation “All The Way In” (2017), Música Do Círculo’s annual training for leaders in São Paulo, Brazil (2022-2023) and she has attended Bobby McFerrin’s Circlesongs School (2016, 2018, 2022).

She is a founding member of the vocal improvisation collective led by Rhiannon, whose name “The Well” was given by Bobby McFerrin, and the Italian group Collettivo CantinCerchio.
She facilitates regular circlesinging gatherings and teaches courses and workshops on circlesinging (circular singing) and vocal improvisation practices.
She was an original faculty member of the French festival Le Cercle Enchanté. She took part in the Vocal River Murmurations project that premiered in Montreal, Canada, in October 2023, under the artistic direction of Rhiannon and Margie Gillis.

She has been studying and practicing Nonviolent Communication since 2017, training with and assisting various trainers, mainly with Yoram Mosenzon’s Connecting2Life school and community, and is constantly looking for ways to combine Empathy with collective music improvisation practices. Chiara is co-founder of the “Circlesinging Roma” initiative, the first open circlesinging community in the Italian capital, active since 2015, which she continues to manage together with co-founding partner Daphne Nisi and colleague Cristina D’Arcangelo. 

www.chiaracortez.com

Workshop "Murmuration: Composing with Voice, Movement and Presence in Space”

This workshop explores the poetic and theatrical dimensions of the improvisational practice we call Murmu0ration—a form inspired by the swirling, synchronized movements of bird flocks, reimagined as a language of sound, gesture, and collective presence.
Through contemporary ensemble vocal improvisation and somatic awareness, participants investigate how spatial awareness, intention, and body-based listening shape group composition.

We’ll create dynamic scenes that emerge from flocking, solos, sculptural groupings, and small ensemble interplay. Voice and movement become tools for sensing, composing, and shaping the space around us. Together, we explore how to listen with the whole body—and how to co-create in space as if composing a living score.

This is a creative playground for those who love collective storytelling through breath, sound, and gesture.