Silvia Nakkach (Saraswati Devi), is a Grammy-nominated musician, composer, sound designer, interdisciplinary artist, classical Indian raga vocalist, and former clinical psychologist.
She is founding director of the international Vox Mundi School of Sound and the Voice, which is devoted to the preservation of unusual vocal cultures through performance, education, and spiritual practice, with ongoing training programs across the U.S., Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Europe, and India.
She is faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), where she teaches the subject of Resonance and the Metaphysics of Sound in the Department of East-West Psychology. She created CIIS’ premier academic Certificate of Sound, Voice, and Music in the Healing Arts, and is the author of the groundbreaking vocal teaching technique and certificate, “The Yoga of the Voice,” which integrates voice, body gestures, performance wellness, and states of meditation.
She is an internationally accredited specialist in transcultural applications of sound and music in therapeutic and shamanic practices, which views music as a safe place to express the Divine within and a vehicle for cosmic listening, a practice intended to activate the potential for positive psycho-spiritual, social, and environmental transformation.
As a voice culturist and composer, she has released 18 albums, is the author of Free Your Voice: Awaken to Life Through Singing, and is the co-host of the podcast Beyond Music. For many years, Silvia collaborated with the late master Dr. Claudio Naranjo, shamans from across South America and India, and Dr. John Beaulieu, with whom she leads courses worldwide.
Silvia’s post-degree studies include Yoga Philosophy, Electronic Music, Qigong, and Music-Centered Psychotherapy. In addition to her many academic credentials, Silvia has devoted 40 years to the study of classical North Indian music and the art of raga singing under the direction of the late maestro Ali Akbar Khan and other great living masters of the Dhrupad tradition.