Creative Voice Circle
With Katja Maria Slotte
Collective singing in Helsinki
A Playful, Inclusive Space to Explore Your Voice & Creativity
Creative Voice Circle is a playful space to play with your voice, explore and train your musicality and tap into your creativity. The classes offer an open, inclusive way of making music together.
The circle is suitable for anyone who loves singing or is curious about exploring their singing voice and musicality. There’s no need for prior experience: the Creative Voice Circle welcomes all voices, singers on all stages of their vocal journey, and emphasizes freedom, joy, and connection through collaborative music making.
What we do in Creative Voice Circle
In the classes, you’ll connect with your voice, musical body and singing Self holistically, through collective singing and guided exercises for voice, musical elements, embodied rhythm, and vocal improvisation in the tradition of Bobby McFerrin and Rhiannon’s Vocal River:
Circle Singing
Guided collaborative improvisational singing, where the facilitator guides the group in building songs together through improvised repeating musical patterns or “loops” – adding melodies, rhythms, harmonies and bass lines into dynamic songs that transform as the circle sings. In the circle, we also make use of Vocal Painting (VOPA) signs as a way of communicating non-verbally during singing.
Vocal Play
Playful exercises to train vocal improvisation and the building blocks of music: melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics – and tap into your imagination and creativity as doorways to vocal freedom.
Sing From The Source
Exercises from Sing From The Source – Katja’s approach to teaching singing, that combines her extensive knowledge about vocal techniques with exercises inspired by mindfulness Eastern practices, neuroscience and somatics. These practices will help you tune your whole vocal being and open up new pathways in your voice and performance.
Embodied Music Making
Exercises that help you train your musical body to embody rhythm. Through the use of body percussion, moving and grooving, you’ll improve your coordination, sense of groove and musical independence.
Empowering Songs
At times, we may also sing songs together from different rhythmic music styles and cultures around the world, in 2-4 part harmonies that you will learn on the spot without sheet music.
Creativity
Creativity is at the heart of everything we do. In these practices, you’ll learn to quiet the Inner Critic, trust your intuition, let your unique ideas flow, turn mistakes into possibilities and give yourself permission to explore without judgment. These practices open the door to authentic expression, helping you bring your whole self into the music you create.
A word from Katja
An invitation to step into play & presence
What I’ve learned through this work is that improvisation isn’t about being fearless or endlessly inventive. It’s about returning to what we already know: play. We improvise every single day when we respond in conversations, adapt to situations, or follow our instincts. The circle is where you remember that this same playfulness belongs in singing and music too.
I’ve also learned that these practices go far beyond music. They train us to listen more deeply, to trust our intuition, to become more open and compassionate toward ourselves and others. Collective singing asks us to show up without judgment, to stay present in the moment, and to create something together that none of us could make alone.
Reconnecting with your creative source doesn’t just transform your singing — it transforms how you move through life. Again and again, people I work with tell me how this work brings them more presence, playfulness, and compassion in many areas of their life.
Because in the end, this work isn’t just about singing and making music. It’s about expressing yourself and finding joy, freedom, presence, and connection — with yourself, with others, and with life itself.
This is why I welcome you to the Creative Voice Circle!
What is Circle Singing?
If you’re new to the concept of Circle Singing and collaborative vocal improvisation, and curious about what it can be like, I invite you to watch this video with a Circle Singing session with Sofia Ribeiro, one of my vocal improvisation teachers 😊
Details
Dates
Creative Voice Circle Fall 2025 & Winter 2026 Class Series: 9 Classes
Classes are on Tuesdays 18:45-20:15. Fall/Winter Class Series dates:
- 7 October
- 21 October
- 4 November
- 18 November
- 2 December
- 16 December
- 6 January
- 13 January
- 20 January
Creative Voice Circle Spring 2026 Class Series: March-May 2026, dates t.b.a.
Location:
Classes are held at The Fireplace Room in Lapinlahti (Helsinki). You will receive precise arrival instructions after signing up.
Price:
Fall+Winter Class Series :
Price: €270
Bring a friend and you both get a €30 discount!
Prices include 25,5% VAT tax.
Payment with Epassi, Edenred and Smartum is possible. If you want to use one of these payment methods, contact katja [at] katjamaria.com before making your payment.
Class information:
Teaching language: English. The main language will be English as we’re welcoming an international group of people who love singing. But you’ll always be able to get explanations in Finnish/Swedish (or Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish…I speak many languages 😉 !)
The studio is an allergy and asthma friendly space, which means please make sure not to wear any perfumes, etc.
Wear comfortable clothes that you can move in. Outdoor shoes are not allowed in the studio, so bring indoor shoes if you don’t want to be in socks. There are woollen socks at the studio that you can borrow during class.
Get The Museletter
Stay up to date and get a bi-weekly dose of inspiration, guidance, and creative empowerment by subscribing to my e-mail newsletter The Museletter:
©2025 Katja Maria Slotte | Creative Voice