Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.
-Hafiz
Music
Hindustani Classical Sitarist
Amanda Welch is a sitarist living in Stockholm, Sweden and studied under the tutelage of Abhik Mukherjee of Imdadkhani Gharana.
She was first introduced to Indian classical music in 2008 when she was studying Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy at the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies in Sarnath, India. It was there where she met her first teacher, Pandit Rabindra Narayan Goswami.
After her study in India, she went on to receive her Bachelors of Art in South Asian Studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. While in Massachusetts, she received musical training from the late Peter Row of Vishnupur Gharana.
She teaches as well as conducts educational demonstrations for preschool, elementary and high-school students. She has performed in colleges, high schools, museums, galleries, house concerts and yoga studios throughout the world.
Plant Practice
Herbalism Apprentice
Amanda had her first introduction to herbs and medicinal plants in 2009 when she studied in Amherst under the guidance of Professor Lyle Craker. From then her fascination with plant medicine heightened in 2018 when she was looking for alternative medicine.
She began her formal Sacred Warrior education in Brooklyn, New York with Vanessa Chakour. She went on to participate in a yearlong apprenticeship at Saw Mill Herb Farm in Florence, Massachusetts working with herbal medicine. She has made many glycerites and blends for practical use, focusing on omitting the use of alcohol in their preparation.
Educator & Researcher
Amanda is an infant/toddler guide in Stockholm, Sweden, and has a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education. Her research focuses on the humanizing pedagogical practices and the influence of whiteness, race, and racial equity in early childhood spaces.
She holds an Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Children’s House Assistants Certification from the Montessori Institute of Bangalore and an AMI Assistance to Infancy Diploma from the Maria Montessori Institute in London, specializing in the theory and the application of Dr. Montessori's advocacy for the rights of the young child.
Amanda has presented her research at prestigious conferences including the American Educational Research Association and Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education, as well as having had her work accepted to the International Montessori Congress in Bangkok. She is currently working on several collaborative publications. She continues her research everyday in her classroom and is diligent in her self study as an educator.
“This is the hope we have—a hope in a new humanity that will come from this new education, an education that is collaboration of man and the universe….”
-Dr. Maria Montessori
Contact
Available for music instruction, concerts, workshops, retreats, demonstrations and collaborations.
