May 2, 2025
“Music has the ability to move us to our shared humanity,” Gina Salā
With a career that has included performing at the United Nations and the U.S. Capitol, and serving as the original principal singer for Cirque Du Soleil’s “O” production in Las Vegas, renowned vocalist and sound healer Gina Salā will present an evening of world music, chants and stories at the ProArts Playhouse on May 4.
“I will be drawing from a lot of different influences, doing some things that are more performative and evocative to make us feel that we’ve been on a musical journey together,” Salā said. “There’s going to be some really fun and exciting rhythms of India, Africa and South America. Then we’ll do some things where I’ll get people involved and even people who aren’t used to feeling that they can sing generally get involved and start singing along. It ends up being not only a performance but a really wonderful community experience of songs with some heart-opening chants from different places and traditions.”
Salā began chanting in her early childhood years, living in a Hindu ashram.
“As soon as I could talk, I was chanting mantras,” she recalled. “I was always interested in the healing aspect of music because I was quite a sickly child and my father was also sickly and I discovered all of the traditions of the world have used music for healing. Our voices have a capacity to bring healing and connection. We can direct sound into our bodies and we can use sounds to calm our minds to literally vibrate our brains if our head needs relaxing, to open our hearts and our lungs to elongate our breath which tones the vagus nerve to feel ourselves connected when we feel separate from one another.”
She deepened her practice in India with teachers, Dr. Vagish Shastriji and Pandit Ritwik Sanyal, studying Sanskrit, mantra, sound tantra, and classical Indian singing.
Her recordings include “Grace Has the Scent of a Rose” and “Mantra Practices and Pronunciation,” and she’s featured on Sonic Tribe’s “Spirit Rising.”
A headliner at Bhaki Fest and Shakti Festival, Salā was praised by Yoga Journal as a “western kirtan singer who captures the sweet, silky essence of traditional Indian vocal traditions, singing with a tenderness that draws the listener deep into the heart of devotion.”
For her ProArts performance, she will be joined by Anil Prasad on tabla, and Ricardo Russell on vocals and guitar, along with Maui musicians Don Lax on violin, Andrea Walls on violin and mbira, and Malia Kulp on vocals.
Seattle-based Prasad began playing percussion at the age of 7, accompanying his mother, Prabha Devi, a well known Indian vocalist and sitar player. A student of tabla masters Tor Dietrichson, Ustad Akram Khan, and Ustad Zakir Hussain, he performs with many Western, world music, and Indian groups.
Living on Hawaii Island, Russell has released 10 recordings of original music that feature his slack key and other guitar styles, piano and vocals. His albums include “Ka Po’ihi – the Mysteries,” and “Boundaries,” which was nominated for a Hōkū for Best Jazz Album of the Year.
“I’m bringing a virtuosic tabla player who can play styles from hip-hop to really complicated classical Indian music,” she said. “He can get our bodies grooving and the guitarist can do slack key and also some singing and I’ve got some really great Maui luminaries. Everybody’s welcome. We’re going to have a good time and connect and feel our unity.”
“The Mozart Effect” author Don Campbell has praised Salá as “an innovative leader in the field of music, voice and wellness.”
Salā will teach a voice workshop, “Your Voice is Medicine: Sacred Sound & Joy” on May 10 in Wailea.
“Music has the ability to move us from just our personal experiences, to our shared humanity,” she said. “And often, when we move into singing or chanting together, we feel something even bigger, that which connects us and which goes by many names. Our hearts open, and we feel uplifted. That is so important in these times.”
Salā will perform at the ProArts Playhouse at 7 p.m. May 4. Tickets range from $25 to $55. The workshop will be held at the Wailea Healing Center, 130 Kaukahi St., Wailea. Cost is $50 in advance and $60 at the door.
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