Mila Redwood is a Community Songleader, Mother, certified Full Voice Coach, and the Founder of Sing for Joy in Toronto. Like so many others, Mila grew up believing that her voice wasn’t good enough. She carried this belief for most of her life, casting seeds of self-doubt and insecurity. It was through Community Singing that she found the medicine needed to reclaim her voice and vibrancy.
Today, Mila uses song as a tool for building community, for restoring our sense of belonging and connection in the world. Her workshops and events offer a soulful, playful, and enlivening space where all voices are welcome. When we sing together in simple harmony, we build bridges of acceptance, compassion, and joy.
Mila is passionate about bringing the act of singing back to its original roots, to a time when singing was something that all people did. In her classes, songs are learned by ear in the oral tradition of call-and-response. Simply, this means repeat after me! When we sing together in this way, it means that no singing experience is required, and all voices are welcome.
As a graduate of the Community Choir Leadership Training in British Columbia, Mila is the Founder of Sing for Joy in Toronto – an inclusive, diverse community of choirs across the city that she led for eight years. She also works locally with newcomer refugee communities, to create inter-cultural spaces for the sharing of songs from diverse origins, homelands, and ancestries.
In addition to her local singing work, Mila teaches community singing workshops and song circles globally. She has taught workshops annually at events including Singing Alive (Oregon and Hawaii), Village Fire Singing (Iowa), and the Spirit Weavers Gathering (California/Oregon).
Mila is grateful to many teachers and mentors who have guided her path of song. She is thankful to Laurence Cole, Shivon Robinsong, Denis Donnelly, Liz Rog, Dr. Ysaye Barnwell, Barbara McAfee, Melanie DeMore, and Kate Valentine… among many more in the community singing movement.
Mila lives with her partner and daughter in Nogojiwanong (Peterborough), Ontario, on the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig Anishinaabeg.
To read more about Mila’s personal singing story, visit our Blog HERE.
