INTRO

I am a singer, sound healer and teacher, born of Aotearoa/New Zealand, and I consider Earth home. My background is 20+ years as a professional singer/actor/dancer across multiple performance disciplines nationally and internationally, and deep training in yoga, sound healing, the psychology of self-expression, philosophy and metaphysics.

As an independent recording artist I release music for your mind, booty and spirit.

  • Scroll down (click here) for music videos, where to listen, engage and connect.

As a live performer I offer, in the words of the great soul Prince, “real music by real musicians”, entertainment that aims to uplift, inspire and connect

As a sacred songstress, I offer voice for ceremonies, rituals, celebrations, and rites of passage.

As a teacher of voice, I offer instruction in the Art of Song.

As a healer, I facilitate freedom of expression in song and speech.

As a song leader I facilitate communion and community.

Thank-you for visiting my site, and sing out if you wish to make contact for my services.

Follow me on Instagram I would love to share my journey with you. @ariathea_songstress.

Super Love

Ariathea – Super Love

An album of songs to uplift, inspire and connect, Super Love was written in the yurt my husband built for us on Kawau Island, Aotearoa/New Zealand throughout 2020, as humanity began it’s true initiation toward the light.

Produced with soul brother Marshall Smith of The Sound Room.

Anchoring the human groove is bassist Mat Fieldes who returned to Aotearoa in 2020 after a stellar international career based in New York.

All wood, metal, skin and bone elements courtesy of American (and now national treasure for Aotearoa) percussionist Doug Brush.

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SUPER LOVE

Be More Than Do, Hey Hey and We’ve Got A Light written by Georgia Duder Wood. All other songs were written by Georgia Duder-Wood, Marshall Smith & Tom Fox, except Get Me Higher, written by Georgia Duder-Wood, Marshall Smith, Tom Fox & Dave Bridgman

The albums I offer are a team effort. Much gratitude to the people I am now, and in the past, privileged to co-create with.

Simon Wood
… for … where do I begin?! Everything … you know …

Marshall Smith & Tom Fox of The Sound Room 
… for production: you truly are the groovemeisters!

Marshall Smith
… for co-song writing, keyboard & backing vocals, and above, for superb midwifery of my first album of originals. My soul brother from another mother, I truly could not have done it without you.

Tom Fox
… for stellar guitar that felt super purple.

Mike Bloemendal
… for final mixes and mastering of Super Love – it is always fun, and super easy super love with you!

Mat Fieldes
… for fat bass on all tracks: I get down and I get up with your solid groove, and making music with you now, as opposed to when we were 18 (!), is a blessing.

Doug Brush 
… for symphonic percussion on all tracks: your djembe that sings of the desert, your triangle funk and everything in between. You rooted this album in the earth with sounds of skin and wood and bone, the donkey jaw guiro being my favourite.

Jono Sawyer
… for drums on Get Me Higher, Honey Child, Emperor, Rise Sister Rise, and Girasole (Sunflower Girl). You got it; you get it. Praise be!

Chris Nielsen
… for horns on Emperor, Girasole (Sunflower Girl) and Honey Child that bring out the soul sister in me.

Asley Brown
… for cello on Kiss Your Smile and Still point. The “man voice” for sure, but also the song of the desert.

Ben Fernandez
… for Rhodes on Emperor. And for your part in my awakening as a songwriter.

Dave Bridgman
… for co-writing Get Me Higher, not to mention channelling the Isley Bothers with your stonkin’ gat.

Pacific Lullabies

Ariathea – Original Lullabies for Sarah

Thirteen short sleepytime and relaxation songs for young ones and their caregivers.

Evocative poems from top Australasian children’s writers are set to beautiful melodies from Russian-Kiwi guitarist Sergei Chesnokov.

With production by The Sound Room and Bronzewing Studios, the aural landscapes created evoke peaceful, loving, fun and safe domestic situations.

Production includes natural sounds: the music of weather and sea and of animals – the soundscapes of the feathered, furry and watery – for listeners to rest in the sounds of elemental life.

Listening to, and making music, and singing, and especially singing together, is vital for good cognitive development for developing humans. It is also vital for ongoing, all-age cognitive maintenance.
The hope is for families, friends and caregivers to sing together, using Ariathea as a guide.

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ORIGINAL LULLABIES FOR SARAH

Vocals: Ariathea Duder 

Compositions / Guitar: Sergei Chesnokov
Dog: Honey
Whales: Ariathea Duder
Original Production: Marshall Smith, Aotearoa/New Zealand
Additional production: Mike Bloemendal, Bronzewing Studios, Aotearoa/New Zealand  

Dedicated to Prince Rogers Nelson

Ariathea – Salutations

My salutations to some favourite soul, pop and jazz classics, and honouring the influence of the great female jazz vocalists.  Recorded in 2010 as a celebratory project with musos I had multiple residencies with in venues across my hometown of Auckland as a working jazz, soul, burlesque, theatre and cabaret singer, before I found my own voice through the creation of my own songs.

Click here for a Vocal Reel Sampler that showcases this versatility. I am grateful for all of my experiences in song, for, without them, Ariathea could not have been born.

 

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SALUTATIONS

Mark Baynes
… for co-creating the project, for keys all tracks, for arrangements of You Are the Sunshine and Hello for helping me, way back then, to write my very first original lyric.

Chris Neilson and your sons Kody and Ruban
… for production, gorgeous horns and grooving gat.

Alex Griffith
… for bass on all tracks. You are phenomenal.

Lance Bentley
… for drums on all tracks. You were our rock.

Dixon Nacey  
… for gat on Purple Rain. I saw purple.

Steve Garden of the Garden Shed 
… for production and recording vocals.

Chris Mason-Battley
… for recording the band at the New Zealand School of Music.

SACRED SONGSTRESS

Through my journey in performance, yoga, sound healing, and consciousness, I am able to offer song in a sacred manner: that is, conscious of the energy of the space and the people within it, balancing it if necessary, seeking to connect people to their hearts, and to each other, through my vibration.

It is not performance. It is service.
Or…
Sound healing = body-as-instrument + craft + intention + sound in space.

This is a powerful offering for the ways in which we gather: in CELEBRATION for weddings, baby showers, and christenings, anniversaries and birthdays, housewarmings, rites of passage. In SORROW and REMEMBRANCE: funerals, memorials, conscious uncoupling, divorce, and ritual.

I offer solo voice, unaccompanied, or with simple backing.

I offer group voice as a SONG LEADER to unite people to harness the power of GROUP SOUND, creating true communion, whether in celebration or sorrow, whenever, wherever, and however it is needed

I have ….

  • sung brides down the aisle; sung a meaningful song for the couple, while the register is being signed; sung a personal tribute and meaningful FAMILY fave beside coffins.
  • led group song to punctuate the key participation moments of a wedding; engagement and heart centered energy hearts i.e., bride entry, register; pronouncement, send off.
  • led group song within funerals and one year on memorial service memorials in many environments, natural or human ordained, to engage, release and connect. To bless the food and share communion through sound

House and space blessings

Birth, significant life point, and preparation for death and death blessings

Simplicity and accomplishment utilizing the skill and heart of a singer to bring change through sound. To lead others to access the most powerful medicine there is: voice

I look forward to serving you to co-create the perfect aural environment for your gathering.

Thank you, Ariathea for contributing to such a wonderful send off for my Mum Joan. Your music & voice set the tone for a beautiful celebration of a life well-lived. She would have loved it! 

Jennifer Butcher | 1st Assistant Director | Film & Television

Having Ariathea lead the song my sister, Harriet, requested we all sing at her memorial service was an inspiration. We sang like we have never sung before! It was a profoundly moving experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Ariathea has a wonderful soul and an enormous gift that I would recommend to anyone.

Fraser Brown. Actor / Producer

(for a 90th) “This party meant the world to us and the music was the absolute centrepiece. Dad had one of the best nights of his life, it was a privilege to have you there. This will be a night in a family history to remember. Thank you so, so much!”.
Christine

(For a wedding) “Thank you so much! You were brilliant, and really added to the atmosphere beautifully”
Celeste

HEALER

ARIATHEA. VOCAL DIAGNOSTICS
ONLINE / IN PERSON

Our voice is our Aural DNA, unique to us. It is also the higher sexual and creative centre, so it is powerful yet vulnerable, and thus defines much about us. To use it in its full scope is to be better able to get our needs met; to share our hearts and minds; to commune; to best express our authentic, magnificent selves, privately and publicly.

Have you always yearned to sing or speak with more ease, assurance, authority and freedom?

What are the mental, emotional and spiritual blocks – that then manifest as mental distress and physical tension – in the way of your full, authentic voice? What’s getting in the way when you speak and especially when you sing? (I believe it is a human right and a human need to sing, for self and with others and many need to reclaim this, especially at this critical time on earth.)

The blocks are real. But these blocks can be cleared.

I have been forced through my own journey as a singer to understand the psychology of self-expression through song at an exquisitely painful level.
Because of the trauma of my own journey I can help clear others, using my voice and theirs.

My deep yoga and naad yoga (yoga of sound) training and Training in Ascended Master Consciousness has prepared me to offer service in this way. You are the expert on you. I am the guide and facilitator.

Contact me to arrange a phone call or Zoom for a free 15 min consultation.

TEACHER OF VOICE

ONLINE / IN PERSON INSTRUCTION IN THE ART OF VOICE: SONG

Curated, needs driven vocal technique for all levels: beginner to advanced.
Topics covered include:

  • Understanding and opening of the instrument, the muscular production of free and authentic tone, body mechanics and support, including vocal health and maintenance
  • Correct kinetics of tone production
  • Breathing and breath support, the Art of Phrasing
  • Pitch, ear training, range – how to manage and increase
  • Articulation – shaping sound, timbre, palatal choice
  • The Art of Phrasing / emotional connection / telling a story / singing your truth
  • Rhythm and Musicality / Genre including ability and suitability
  • Crafting repertoire and set-lists, stagecraft and communion
  • Psychology of self-expression through Song
  • Managing performance anxiety and the Ego

ONLINE / IN PERSON INSTRUCTION IN THE ART OF VOICE: SPEECH

Curated, needs driven vocal technique for all levels: beginner to advanced.
Topics covered include:

  • Harnessing the power of personality
  • Pitch, rhythm, prosody
  • Kinetics of correct muscularisation for free, authentic tone
  • Timbre, palatal choice, articulation
  • Range – how to manage and increase
  • Breathing and breath support
  • Body mechanics and support, including vocal health and maintenance of the instrument
  • Public speaking and presentations – how to deliver your best message in your best voice
WORKSHOPS: SONG & VOICE

Trained in group facilitation and group psychology, and a New Zealand ART Venture awardee For arts practitioners considered specialists within their field, Ariathea offers joyous, dynamic, and empowering workshops in song, voice, and communication. These can be for small and large groups and across all levels of experience. A place – and people- appropriate learning experience is delivered with great skill, knowledge, empathy and enthusiasm and is backed by experience across community, corporate, institutional, educational, therapeutic and festival environments.

There is nothing like the power of group song to uplift, inspire and connect! Harness it!

ARIATHEA. TEACHER OF VOICE

VOCAL DIAGNOSTICS

Curated, needs driven vocal and performance diagnostics for intermediate to advanced singers.

  • A comprehensive report on the strengths and weakness of your vocal technique, musicianship and stagecraft
  • Targeted exercises and guidance to improve technique, increase musicality, better understand and develop stagecraft, personality and persona in the role of artist / entertainer
ARIATHEA HEALER WORKING WITH VOICE

Collaborators

Live Tracks produced by the sound room

Mat Fields

Mat Fieldes has recently returned to Aotearoa from a stellar international career based in New York. Trained at Julliard School of Music in New York and sought after in classical, jazz, rock, hip-hop, R&B, and on Broadway, he has collaborated with or played for such luminaries as Joe Jackson, John Cale, Ornette Coleman, Beyonce & Jay Z, Sufjan Stevens, Steve Vai, and Arturo Sandaval.

Doug Brush

Doug Brush is an American-born percussionist, granted citizenship in Aotearoa for his unique musical offerings. Classically trained at the American Conservatory of Music and Roosevelt University in Chicago, he graduated with honours. He has studied with percussion masters in Cuba, Spain, North India, South India, North Africa, and West Africa, playing and has performed on five continents.

Eric Renick

Originally from Indianapolis, Eric Renick is the section principal for percussion for the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. He gained a Master’s degree and artist certificate from Chicago’s Roosevelt and DePaul universities, and in 2007 he was awarded a Fellowship with the New World Symphony (NWS), and is an Artist Teacher at the University of Auckland.

Nick Taylor

Is a strong musician and talented bassist who started music at the age of 5 and has been heavily involved in music since then.
Since completing his Bachelor of Music specialising in Jazz Performance in 2012, Nick has traveled extensively around the world playing on numerous Cruise Ships throughout the Pacific, Caribbean and Mediterranean. Also having contracts in Dubai at five star hotels, in the South of France performing at The Royal Mougins Golf Resort and at a Michelin starred restaurant Moulin de Mougins.