A Kirtan with Ananda at in Saint Anne's Chapel at Oak Grove Retreat

We call ourselves Ananda which means bliss in Sanskrit.  We do a mix of traditional and non-traditional chants, some of which I have composed and Solay has composed, and some from other well-known kirtan folks.  Solay Howell is from Hawaii, now lives in Richmond, on ukulele and drums, Martha Williamson is the daughter of missionaries so spent a large part of her childhood  in southern Africa, young adulthood in Malaysia, later in Maine, now in Charlottesville, on drum, harmonium, violin. tongue drum, and me from Tarboro, now in Charlottesville, on keyboards, tongue drum, harmonium, violin.  If you want any other info, let me know and I will respond quickly.  We each have been doing Kirtan for many years, Martha the longest for 30 years!  We are really looking forward to this.

Kirtan is a traditional Indian practice of group chanting and storytelling that involves calling out to the divine. The…