Cellist Kathryn Brunhaver currently lives in Eugene, OR where she is a member of the Eugene Symphony and Elsewhere Ensemble. She has also performed with microphilharmonic, Chamber Music Amici and the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, as well as many other orchestral and chamber music collaborations. Kathryn enjoys exploring innovative ways of playing the cello and has earned a reputation for specializing in new music, which has included premiering works for singing cellist, as well as composing works for herself and others. This interest in new music extends across genres and has led her to join the regional-acclaimed americana band Satori Bob. Kathryn is also a music educator and maintains a large studio of private cello students. She holds a DMA from the University of Oregon, MM from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and BM from the Peabody Institute.

Singer and percussionist Darline Jackson thanks her Creator for her many gifts and talents - from sharing a soul-food meal, to touching hearts with a soulful voice. Her music is infused with a Gospel feel, and never fails to inspire those around her.

She grew up in the town of Safford, Arizona, and started singing at an early age. As a small child, her mother noticed that she’d sing herself to sleep. For her 13th birthday, her mother bought her a set of bongos, and this basically set her career into motion.

She first played those bongos in church, with her friend on piano and her brother on guitar. At that time, Darline wasn’t a featured soloist; she was singing the responses with the congregation. In her early twenties, her star really began to shine. She moved to Oregon, and began a busy career as a lead vocalist and percussionist, performing in churches, nursing homes, wineries and other local venues.

She is currently on the praise team at City First Church in Eugene, and also performs with two bands, TOB and My Band. Her authentic and soulful voice, along with her incredible skill on percussion, make her one of the most celebrated and sought-after performers in the area. And she uses all of this to joyfully give back to God.

Gospel musician Christopher Stubbs has been playing the piano and organ since he was 7 years old. Originally from Eugene, Oregon, as a young adult he moved to California’s Bay Area, where he played for his uncle’s church. He grew tremendously as a musician from that experience. He then came back to Eugene, and began to share his gifts at his home church of Bethel Temple, playing for services and and accompanying the choir.

Chris played piano for the Gospel Choir at the University of Oregon when Professor John Gainer and Andiel Brown were the directors. He also played at the Sunday market for the Pic-A-Dilly flea market for 15 years.

Currently, Chris delights audiences in the Eugene area, playing with the Power House Worship Center Church, as well as at local nursing homes, nightclubs and wineries. He is the director of Inspirational Sounds African American Gospel choir, a community choir in Eugene/Springfield area.

 Starting in the University of Oregon's Suzuki String Institute, Christopher Stark has been a part of the Springfield/Eugene music scene for over 20 years. Christopher first received tutelage from Eugene Symphony alumni Anthony Dyer, and later with Peggy Rubinstein. 

He went on to study violin performance at the University of Oregon, where he was awarded the DeArmond Music Scholarship, studying with former Eugene Symphony Concertmaster Kathryn Lucktenberg.   During this time at U of O, Christopher participated in various national chamber music festivals, such as the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival and the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival. He also participated in various Masterclasses with international violin performers such as Vadim Glutzman, Chee-Yun Kim, Charles Castleman, and Cho-Liang Lin.

Upon graduating with a BM in Violin Performance, Christopher went on to pursue a graduate degree at the DePaul Music Conservatory in Chicago, where he received the DePaul Music Scholarship, placing him in the tutelage of Janet Sung.

Upon graduating with a MM in Violin Performance, Christopher decided it was time to return home to Oregon. You can find Christopher performing with various ensembles around the Lane County area, such as Orchestra NEXT, the Eugene Concert Choir and Orchestra, and the Eugene Symphony.

Guitarist and composer Don Latarski is an American institution. His seasoned bandmates declare that nobody plays like him and with a reputation in finger style guitar circles cemented in the image of his guitar picks glued onto his fingernails—they are on to something.

Born in 1953, Latarski grew up in a rural area about 31 miles north of Detroit, MI, close enough to that Motown vibe to trade Little League games for guitar lessons at age 10. He relocated to Oregon to attend the University of Oregon, where he earned a music degree. He studied jazz and classical guitar in college, which proved to be a natural introduction to finger picking. After graduation the U of O quickly hired him to head their guitar studies program and his life since has revolved around music and teaching.

Latarski’s contribution to guitar playing cannot be understated—he has written more than 20 books on guitar instruction, and owns Crescent Studios in Eugene, where he is the audio engineer and producer. In addition to his dedication in teaching, Don has released 15 studio albums, and composed and recorded music for video games, short films, and radio programs. His quirky personality is best captured in his numerous video tutorials posted on YouTube and his Facebook page, including a recent outing, titled Mt. Hopkins Road Wind Guitar—complete with disclaimer not to try this at home. https://youtu.be/uKJQ0iz7drM

Words of Author Tom Titus -

I love running, rain, running in rain, and hunting for almost anything, including clams, calypso orchids, deer, dogwood blossoms, elk, errant thoughts, fossils, firewood, obsidian, old bones, old forests, orange agates polished to perfect roundness by endless pounding waves, sunrises, sunsets, salamanders, salmon, salmonberries, wild mushrooms, Wild Turkey, wild turkeys, and that Lazuli Bunting singing his beautiful blue-orange brains out from a dead tree in a desert canyon.

My writing explores the messy interface of human experience and our increasingly wounded world. I’m a biologist and have authored or coauthored over thirty scientific papers. I’m deeply grateful for all that humankind has learned over the millennia. Yet to become alive, science needs beautiful stories. We need love songs everyone can sing, melodies that spring from deep aquifers of wisdom into the bright light of day, becoming joyful sunlit riffles running over bright stones, pouring into thoughtful pools sheltering small dark trout, streams that meander across our external and internal landscapes, weaving us into the land from which we came and where we belong.

If you’d like to love my writing, please read my book, Blackberries in July: A Forager’s Field Guide to Inner Peace, or sample a tasty smorgasbord by perusing my blog posts. I’ve also developed an inspirational writing workshop entitled “Writing from the Inside Out.”

Facilitator Mike Meyer, LCSW & CADC, is a leader for mental and emotional health in natural environments, specializing in addictions, relationships, and trauma therapies. He is a sought-after facilitator, with over twenty years’ experience, leading workshops including wellness, trauma support, coping strategies, and working with substance use.

Mike is creator and host of the award-winning radio show “Island Earth Radio” which highlights the relationship of creativity and ecology. Mike leads weekly dance and creative movement happenings with nature groups. He is producer of folk music concerts and an avid kayaker.

Donna O’Neil, E-RYT (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher), has been teaching yoga and leading yoga retreats since 1995, and sharing her voice and music since l987.  Her blend of gentle yoga, meditation and music help to bring body, mind & spirit together as one.

If you’re here, chances are - like most humans - you’ve experienced some degree of early trauma. Few escape childhood unscathed, and how we deal with the aftermath of those early adverse experiences is key to either thriving in life or just plain surviving.

As a trauma survivor-turned-thriver myself, the effects of childhood emotional, psychological, and spiritual abuse and neglect spilled far into my own adulthood. Over the years I was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, PMDD, OCD, ADHD, eating disorder and, finally, Complex PTSD – which explained a lot!

Determined to heal and leaving no stone unturned, I embarked on a journey of growth and recovery - eventually going from barely surviving to truly thriving within a joyful, courageous, and creative life. I found my way back to my authentic self and, in the process, discovered healing modalities to help others do the same, only in much less time.

Lived experiences and decades of gathered information allow me to curate a therapeutic approach from a wide variety of techniques. My belief in the importance of addressing trauma-response triggers from all angles means I provide a customized menu of tools that are meaningful and useful to each individual client. My goal is to help you break free of old patterns in a way that works for YOU and that translates to your greater enjoyment of life.

Peace and Love.

- Meesh

Zana Zeigler is an LPC (licensed professional counselor). She graduated with a Masters in Human Development and Counseling (Vanderbilt University 2014), a Masters in Divinity (Vanderbilt Divinity School, 2006), and holds a certificate in the Leona B. Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender and Sexuality, as well as a Masters in Fine Art (University of Georgia, 1975).  Her practical experience includes a yearlong internship at an eating disorder facility in Tennessee.  She has also worked for several years at a local non-profit Mental Health Agency in Eugene Oregon.  She has advanced training in DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), existential therapy and is certified in Level I training in IFS (Internal Family Systems). She has a private practice in Eugene Oregon. Regardless of the presenting issue, her goal is always to diminish suffering and promote an experience of psycho-spiritual wholeness for the individuals with whom she works.

Rev. Donna Pouliot has devoted her life to helping others.  Coming from a rich and varied background of military service in the 101st Airborne, serving as a Licensed Practical Nurse, conducting a prison ministry, singing, dancing and learning to be still, Rev. Donna has walked many paths in her career.  These paths eventually led her to become a licensed and ordained minister, a profession that beautifully encompasses all of her skills. 

Katie writes songs for her own healing and transformation, and seeks to inspire the same in others. Her voice trembles with the truth of human emotion as her songwriting goes on journeys into the depth of her personal growth experience.

Utilizing both human relationships and the beauty of nature as her primary muses, Katie writes beautiful songs that will touch your heart and leave you feeling better than when you came. Listening to her music has been described as receiving "a big hug".

Katie is the lead vocalist and songwriter for her band, KT and the Love Notes, and a group song leader of sing-alongs at Residential Care Facilities in the Eugene area. She also writes, leads, and teaches a capella part songs that have traveled all over the country and have been adapted for choirs in Portland, Boulder, Austin & Big Sur, among other places.

Rev. Sherry Lady has been a member of Unity of the Valley since 1986. After retiring from a 30 year career in Education, she attended Unity School for Religious Studies where she received her ordination. Sherry was the Senior Minister at Unity of Ashland for 7 years. At Unity of the Valley she has served as Associate Minister as well as directing our Youth and Family Ministry, coordinating Adult Education, and being Unity’s drama director. As Co-Senior Minister, she supports the leaders of these same ministry areas or––in the case of Adult Education––leads it herself. Along with church activities, she finds enrichment through family activities, writing, the theater, and being with friends.

Paul first picked up a saxophone at the tender age of 8. Paul’s teacher and mentor was Robert “Boysie” Lowery, who taught players such as Clifford Brown, Ernie Watts, and many other jazz musicians on the east coast.

Paul was very serious about his musical studies, and his career took off like a rocket. He began to back up such artists as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Mel Tormé, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles, Lena Horne and Van Morrison. He then went on to tour for several years with Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, and Ike and Tina Turner. He also joined a yearlong world tour with Smokey Robinson.

He eventually moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a studio musician. He wrote and played on movie scores and television theme songs, and performed with many famous artists, including Jimmy Smith, Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Drifters, The Platters, The Cadillacs, The Shirelles.

In the summer of 1992 Paul visited Florence, Oregon and immediately fell in love with the town and the surrounding area. He actually moved to Florence in December 1998, and began the philanthropic portion of his career. Paul performed in and produced school assemblies recreating the history of jazz. He helped raise funds to send the local high school jazz and concert bands to compete in Washington, D.C., and produced many other fundraising events. Since moving to Eugene in 2004, Paul, a member of both The Rainy Day Blues Society and The Willamette Jazz Society, has become a local and regional legend, bringing joy to audiences all over Lane County. He also gives private woodwind lessons, and continues his fundraising efforts on behalf of local charities, and is a treasured member of the music team at Unity of the Valley.

Géna Duel has been a student and teacher of the Power of Women’s Joy classes for 20-plus years. Having walked this journey herself, she has discovered dynamic and creative tools to help people move through life’s ups and downs rather than remaining stuck in the difficulties they present. Her passion is sharing these tools and inspiring others to discover the power of joy in their own lives.

Rev. Inge Tarantola was born and raised in Germany. After a career in accounting, Inge discovered her passion for ministry and in 1988 Unity of the Valley became her church home. She served on the board of Trustees and as Director of the Prayer Ministry and Taize Healing Prayer Ministry. In 2000, she pioneered a brand new Unity church in Roseburg, became Unity of the Valley’s Associate Minister in 2012, and in 2013 joined our newly formed Ministerial Team as Co-Senior Minister. Healing prayer and meditation have been part of her daily spiritual practice for many years. Inge also finds joy and spiritual renewal in the great outdoors and in her garden.

Greetings to all you beautiful souls.  I am so blessed to be a part of Connecting from the Heart.  What an honor!

I am a mother of four daughters, a grandmother to six granddaughters and a great grandmother to two boys and one girl.  Although they are scattered all over the country, they are always just a heartbeat away.

I am also very grateful to have been a nurse, and am retired now.

I am very involved with Unity of the Valley church in Eugene, Oregon.  My involvement is primarily with Youth Ed, both inside the church, and also volunteering with our “Reach Out” program for teens at a local facility for incarcerated youth.  I’ve been with Unity for more than 30 years.  I felt like I had come home the first time I was present for a service there.

In addition to my work at Unity, I volunteer for NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness).  This helps me understand and be available for members of my family, and is very near and dear to my heart.

More recently I have become involved with The Trevor Project, which is related to the LBGTQ movement.  My involvement with this project was initially for my son, who passed away several years ago.  I have grown so much with these beautiful beings since then.  

Thank you for allowing me to share some of myself with you.

Blessings and love,

Alice

Pianist Laura DuBois knows no greater joy than sharing the beauty of music, and she is an enthusiastic performer, music director & piano teacher. She holds a BM in Piano Performance from the University of North Texas, a MM in Piano Performance from the University of Miami, and completed all but her dissertation for a DMA in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Miami. From 2001 until 2015, she was on the faculty at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ, where she taught piano, music appreciation, and music theory, and served as the accompanist for the Music & Theatre Department.  Since moving to Oregon in 2015, Laura has been the music director at Unity of the Valley in Eugene. She also maintains a small but enthusiastic studio of piano students. When not making music, Laura loves to garden and explore the outdoors with her husband Gary, play scrabble with her mom, and take cooking lessons from her son, Elliot.

To learn more about Laura, feel free to check out her episode on the Uniquely Eugene podcast.