Join Center for Conscious Living & Dying for events at LEAF Retreat

CCLD Executive Director Dr. Aditi Sethi, a devotional Indian musician, with Native American flutist Greg Lathrop, traditional flutist Scott Sheerin and Appalachian roots musician Jay Brown.

the team behind conscious dying documentary The Last Ecstatic Days will join with the Center for Conscious Living & Dying for a series of weekend events at LEAF Retreat.

First, on Friday, May 12, at 6 p.m., catch a sneak preview of the Asheville-produced film, which features an original theme song by Grammy-winning musician Alex Ebert (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros). After the screening, CCLD Executive Director Dr. Aditi Sethi, a devotional Indian musician, will be joined by Native American flutist Greg Lathrop, traditional flutist Scott Sheerin, and Appalachian roots musician Jay Brown (pictured above) to share a heart-centered musical offering Honoring, Remembrance & Legacy Songs, exploring the wisdom of grief. 

On Saturday, May 13, at 9:30 p.m., CCLD will take part in the world premiere of The Grief Happening: a contemplative musical experience with members of the cast of The Last Ecstatic Days. Inspired by performance artist Alan Kaprow’s “Happenings” at Black Mountain College, The Grief Happening is a contemplative, an interactive concert that will give audience members the opportunity to embrace grief through a healing journey. It’s directed by Scott Kirschenbaum and produced by Hannah Fowler, Landon Maloney, and Prerana Thakurdesai.

Musicians participating in The Grief Happening include Indian-American musician Aditi Sethi, Native American flutist Greg Lathrop, traditional flutist Scott Sheerin, tabla player Jahidi, Appalachian roots musician Jay Brown, spoken word artist Jessica Chilton, and ambient musician Jason Hebal.

Reimagining the concert as a communal healing experience, The Grief Happening draws inspiration from the grief culture of the Indian holy city of Varanasi, where music and dance unite with death and grief celebration. This is an opportunity to make music, make art, make theater sourced from one’s own grief, the grief in the audience, communal grief, ancestral grief, forms of grief that are wordless or live in the moment. 

On Sunday, May 14, at 1:30 p.m., Hannah Fowler, the impact producer for “The Last Ecstatic Days,” will lead her flagship workshop All Healing is Release: Conscious Dying as a Rite of Passage with Dr. Aditi Sethi.

For more information on Center for Conscious Living & Dying, please visit their website www.ccld.community and find them on social media @ccld.community.

For more information on The Last Ecstatic Days, please visit their website www.thelastecstaticdaysmovie.com and find them on social media @thelastecstaticdays.

Dr. Aditi Sethi and Hannah Fowler.

 

AN URGENT LETTER FROM THE LEAF BOARD:

For nearly 30 years, LEAF Global Arts has connected people through the power of art, music, and culture. Every shared moment has been made possible because of you – our community.

The LEAF Festival is critical to funding LEAF’s larger work: providing global cultural arts programming for thousands of local youth and preserving cultures and traditions around the world.

This year, we are facing a financial crossroads: between the loss of last fall’s Festival, losing a majority of our arts education funding in 2025, and not fully recovering from COVID, the future is bleak. The upcoming LEAF Festival could be our last if we don’t come together to sustain the heart of LEAF’s mission – but we have seen what this community can do when united for a cause greater than itself.

To open the Festival experience to as many people as possible, and to rally the full spirit of LEAF, we are offering a limited number of LEAF LOVE Tickets at a significant discount.

These special tickets, offered at 30% off (our highest discount, even more so than our Early Bird pricing) are our way of ensuring everyone has a place in this story. Full-priced tickets also remain available for those with the means to give a little more to help support LEAF’s vital work.

Your presence, your voice, and your support matter more than ever right now. Join us in making this LEAF Festival one that the world will never forget and ensuring the music continues for generations to come. 

Mayani is a Maasai boy from longido Arusha. He went to boarding school at 6 years old and lost his Maasai language and tradition. Since joining the LEAF program, he has learned to sing Maasai songs, practiced the ‘jump’ tradition and wear Maasai shukas (traditional clothing). Mayani is extremely happy and is currently teaching other youth the culture.