VOCAL WILDS
The Art of Embodied Improvisation
A practice in motion.
TatiAnah Thunberg and Mary Fithian met in a class in 1998 and have been gathering in community-based circles ever since. In 2018, they launched Supper & Sing as a supper club, and in 2022 began shaping it into the devoted monthly community jam for vocal improvisers that continues to evolve today.
Our evening together weaves community nourishment with improvisational artistry in service of joy!
꩜ What Shaped This Practice
Supper & Sing lives within a web of relationships—people teaching one another, studying together, traveling, singing, experimenting, collaborating, inviting one another in, and carrying practices from one circle into another.
Our circle has been shaped by many artists, teachers, ensembles, retreats, friendships, and musical lineages: TatiAnah and Mary’s decades-long collaborations; Carol Bardenstein’s community song circles; Don Allen, Jeremy Fulwiler, and TatiAnah’s Harmonic Voice Meditation; Shakti Circle; Beth Patterson and the Trybal Revival circle in Kalamazoo; Lyndsey Scott and TatiAnah’s Lush Up Our Spirits retreats; Kath Weider’s Vocal Lab at Studio for Vocal Alchemy and the Songha that formed through it; Dory Mead’s performing arts program and her introduction to Rhiannon’s Vocal River; Kyler Wilkins’/ Ki5 teaching and extraordinary practice in vocal looping and beatboxing; Irene and TatiAnah’s enrollment in the year-long All the Way In program; and now, Mary Fithian, Andrea Hill, and Me/Again Rose Sims’ enrollment in a two-year training with Música do Círculo.
Along the way, friendships become collaborations, students become teachers, ensembles form, and new musical lineages enter the circle. In 2025, members of Songha began sharing leadership of Supper & Sing, and in 2026 the gathering became part of the growing Vocal Wilds ecosystem.
Our community keeps growing, changing, and discovering what else is possible.
We go out to learn, and then we bring it home.
The river keeps gathering tributaries and flowing toward the ocean.
꩜ What to Expect
Each month, a different facilitator from the Songha and our wider community brings their own experience, influences, and growing edges into the circle.
Together, we practice attuned listening, playful risk-taking, embodied expression, and collaborative music-making—following what emerges rather than knowing where the music is going.
No performance. No pressure.
Just voices meeting in the wild, spontaneous moment.
Some of us have been singing together for decades. Some are stepping into the circle for the first time. We’re grateful for the singers who return again and again—and delighted to welcome new voices into what we’re creating together.
Come as you are. Let’s sing what has never been sung before.
🥗 Supper — 6:30 pm
We open the evening with a four-course whole-foods feast, prepared with love by members of our circle.
🎶 Sing — 7:30 pm
After supper, we turn toward singing—a two hour open-hearted vocal improvisation jam where all levels of experience are welcome.
DATES in 2026:
Jan 17, Feb 21, Mar 21, Apr 18, May 30, June 26, July 18, Aug 29, Sep 19, Oct 16, Nov 21 & Dec 18
Facilitators
Tatianah
Thunberg
TatiAnah Thunberg, LMSW (she/hers) is the founder of Spirit Moves LLC, and the co-founder of Vocal Wilds, Supper & Sing Community Jam, Vocal Lab, Ensemble Night, and TAZ, all dedicated to exploring vocal improvisation. Event producer, experiential facilitator, song catcher, vocal improv artist, and percussionist, she draws from over three decades of experience leading expressive and healing arts classes, groups, programs, playshops, and retreats that awaken the body, soften the armor of protection, and invite connection and creativity to reemerge. Her work draws from a rich tapestry of influences, all centered in the spontaneous intelligence of play.
MARY
FITHIAN
Mary Fithian moves through the world with a song at the ready and a fearless sense of adventure guiding her voice. Trained in vocal performance at Eastern Michigan University, she soon traded opera for the open sky—busking in New Orleans, writing songs, and following the call of Spirit wherever it led. Over the years she has sung alongside Laz Slomovits, collaborated with her husband Eric in their joyful duo Mary and the Huz Band, served as a wedding soloist, and now uplifts her community as the music director for Greenwood Sanctuary at First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor. Whether in ceremony, on stage, or in a circle of friends, Mary treats music as communion—an act of weaving hearts together—and she continues to blossom as a radiant leader in the sacred, spontaneous world of vocal improvisation.
Irene Soléa Antonellis
Irene Soléa Antonellis (she/her) is a music therapist, psychotherapist, vocalist, recording artist, and co-founder of Vocal Wilds. She holds an M.A. in Counseling Psychology and Music Therapy from Lesley University and has led contemplative music concerts, workshops and retreats throughout the U.S. and in South America, Europe, and Asia. Irene draws musical inspiration from her a cappella vocal roots, Latin folk music heritage and sacred sounds from around the world, and is known for her directness, equanimity, warmth, and humor. Rooted in her bicultural background and a deep belief in the voice as medicine, Irene is devoted to embodied practices that connect us to beauty, wholeness, and aliveness. In her private practice, one of her specialties is working with musicians and creatives to heal trauma, build and maintain deep emotional health and groundedness, experience expressive flow, and navigate the unique challenges of liberated, nontraditional career paths. She is currently enrolled in Rhiannon’s year-long vocal improvisation intensive, All the Way In, under the direction of Cara Trezise. Supper & Sing is one of her favorite play-spaces; a cherished opportunity to share with and learn from kindred spirits!
Andrea
Hill
Andrea Hill (she/her) creates joyful, welcoming spaces where people discover the freedom of making music together. As a musician, breathworker, and group facilitator, she loves helping people move beyond self-consciousness and reconnect with creativity, play, and authentic expression. Andrea began studying classical violin and piano as a child before falling in love with jazz piano and voice. She performed with Community High and the Washtenaw Community College Big Band at jazz festivals across the U.S. and Europe, and spent two years performing professionally in the Detroit area before stepping away from music to pursue massage therapy and a degree in sports medicine. That decision sparked a decades-long exploration of holistic wellbeing that eventually led her to clinical social work. In 2024, Andrea found her way back to music through southeast Michigan's vibrant vocal improvisation community. Inspired by Tatianah Thunberg, Kath Weider, and a growing network of artists, she rediscovered music not as something to perfect, but as a joyful practice of listening, play, and connection. Today, Andrea delights in inviting others into that same experience. She believes every voice matters, no musical experience is required, and some of the most meaningful music emerges when we let go of trying to impress and simply make sound together. In September 2026, Andrea begins a two-year intensive training with Música do Círculo, deepening her vocal improv facilitation practice and her commitment to creating welcoming spaces where everyone can experience the joy of making music together.
TANYA
Shaffer
Tanya Shaffer is a playwright, author, writing workshop leader and joyful singer living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is the writer of the musical The Fourth Messenger, with composer Vienna Teng, as well as many other plays, and the author of the travel memoir Somebody’s Heart is Burning: A Woman Wanderer in Africa. She currently writes a regular Substack called Tanya Shaffer’s Off-Leash Chronicles, where she publishes personal essays on a wide range of topics. She teaches a range of writing workshops through her business, Off-Leash Writing, and works with individual writers as an editor and coach, helping them realize their creative visions. Tanya was a professional regional theatre actor in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years before moving to Ann Arbor in 2017. She performed in all types of theatre, from new plays to Shakespeare to musicals. Over the last few years, she has been singing less for performance and more for the sheer joy of blending her voice with others. Through the Vocal Lab with Kath Weider, she developed a profound love for vocal improv. This love continues to grow and unfold as she deepens her appreciation for the power of improvised vocal music to open the hearts of singers and listeners alike.
Carisa
Wilder
Carisa Wilder (she/her) comes to vocal improv through the ancient tradition of womyn's song circles. In the pursuit of pleasure and play she found a Songha amongst the Vocal Wilds members and never looked back! She is the founder of Tandem Counseling where she offers psychotherapy and coaching to individuals and couples. She draws inspiration from social and environmental justice movements, the strength and resilience of survivors of trauma and the boundless creativity of the human spirit - especially children(big and little)! She is a "song catcher" and can often be found riding her bike in the woods.
