Johanna Beekman

Johanna Beekman is a singer-songwriter, chant and kirtan artist, yoga teacher, vocal teacher, recording artist and event producer. She is loved for her rich, soulful voice and for songs and chants that reach deep into the collective soul. She sings and teaches at festivals, studios, churches and other live and online venues. Her songs have been nominated for music awards and included in best-of-the-year playlists, and in 2022 she became a voting member of the Grammy Recording Academy.

She wrote her first song at 9 and gave her first solo performance at 10, singing John Lennon's Imagine at a benefit for a children's charity. By 20 she had performed in clubs, coffee houses, festivals, musical theatre, rock and world-beat bands, gospel and women's community choirs, and films. As a teenager she sang in a gospel choir led by Reverend Isaiah Jones. Her songwriting spans folk-pop, gospel hymns, a cappella anthems, classic soul and jazz-infused ballads. One song, Free to Decide (Breathe), has been performed by choirs and a cappella groups across the United States and Canada.

In recent years her focus has been original kirtan, the sacred music of the yoga traditions. Many of her compositions weave mantras and chants from other cultures together with their English translations, from unison meditations to ecstatic call-and-response jams. Heart Beats One (2016) was her first album of original kirtan. Beyond Love followed, a serene collection of soothing songs, and then Mantra Soul, which bridges Eastern kirtan and Western gospel. Her albums feature guests from the kirtan community, and she has worked with producer Ben Leinbach.

Johanna created Lullaby Yoga, a blend of music and restorative yin yoga in which she sings and plays soothing songs and chants while guiding students through relaxing poses. She also leads Free Your Soul's Voice playshops and provides music for RhythmAsana, which combines yoga, movement meditation, dance and world rhythms. During the pandemic she hosted One Heart TV, a series of interviews with members of the yoga and kirtan communities. She also created the Mantra Sangha: Health & Healing video, which features Krishna Das and kirtan artists from around the world and supports children in Nepal. She produces and co-produces yoga and conscious music festivals, and when she is not touring she lives and sings in Oregon.