Maniko’s music is a rich and unique meeting of musical worlds. She was born in California into a musical family where she was influenced by a wide variety of music, from the jazz greats to the Beatles. She began performing in the mid-seventies within the folk/rock/blues singer/songwriter genre. As her artistry expanded and deepened she discovered, and completely fell in love with, the world of the mystics, sages and poets. Thus began a passionate love affair with the inner dimensions of voice and self-expression, singing, poetry, songwriting and music as powerful practices for personal development and integration. In 1977, she traveled to India where she lived, worked and studied with the enlightened mystic Osho at the International Meditation University and Community in India as well as traveling and working in Europe and the US. During her time (1977-1990) in this remarkable international community, she played with many accomplished musicians from around the world, (notables among them are keyboardist Morgan Fisher of Mott the Hoople & Queen, Yoko Ono; percussionist Alyrio Lima of Weather Report, Santana; multi-instrumentalist Prem Joshua and many more). In this uniquely dynamic, meditative, and richly cross-cultural global environment, she began leading thousands of people in ecstatic singing and dancing meditations for darshans, satsangs, and festival celebration events. It is also during these years, as her interest and love of music, voice, meditation, creativity, and developing consciousness grew, she laid her strong foundation in multi-dimensional transformational and awareness practices. She has been both creating and participating in cutting-edge experiential transformational modes, artistic explorations, and meditative disciplines since 1977. She continues her devotional practice of deepening and expanding the quality and spirit of learning and teaching to this day.
In her latest album, House of the Beloved, she joins forces with award-winning & Grammy-nominated co-producer Kit Walker (Jai Uttal, Deva Premal) to create an utterly new and contemporary sound called Ecstatic Grooves. She elegantly weaves together melodies, poetry, chants, and awesome grooves to create compelling songs that move people in all ways, body, heart & soul. House of the Beloved is an unforgettable journey through the timeless territories of the human heart.
Maniko has been writing songs, performing, and singing in a diverse array of venues for over 30 years. She has produced and recorded three CDs of her original material and worked on a variety of other recording projects. She has extensive professional and experiential training in expressive arts therapy, movement awareness integration, meditative disciplines as well as dance, breath, and voice as vehicles for bridging the worlds of developing consciousness, creativity, personal integration, and authentic self-expression. Along with private sessions, she performs live in concert and facilitates workshops on the Dimensions of Voice & Self-Expression, Creativity, Transformational & Ecstatic Singing, Songwriting, Mystic Practices, and Meditation Retreats in the US, Australia, Europe, and Asia. She currently lives in the Northern California Sierra Foothills.
