Our Team
A HeartTones Therapist is a practitioner with a sincere desire to serve these particular target groups and is trained to create safe, uplifting conditions conducive to healing. Our code of ethics revolves around Empathy and Respect. Training sessions for our team include group management skills, practicing communication with teenagers and children, and Sound Therapy Protocol for the Classroom with emphasis on developing a quality relationship with the audience.
Alice Dow: Founder and Program Coordinator
As a very young child, Alice demonstrated the ability to learn complex melodies by ear. Her parents, who were both startled and amazed, acquired a piano teacher from the Julliard School of Music when she was 4. During her childhood/youth, she played cello, guitar, harp, sang in choirs and studied classical piano for 12 years. The rich musical climate in southern New York State during those years exposed her to an innovative community of composers where her musical instincts flourished. When she was 17, she chose the flute and began to sing, in public, while traveling around the world. She dedicated many years to serving vulnerable communities in Europe, Argentina, and Colombia with an interdenominational faith-driven community. Throughout those years, she practiced a form of Music Therapy for traumatized youth. She also performed publicly and helped to arrange unedited compositions written by her Argentinian husband. Her foundation, Healing Colombia, has served 3000 vulnerable youth and distributed $3.000.000 worth of humanitarian aid to displaced families in Colombia, SA.
Convinced that successful language learning comes from direct interaction and listening rather than book-learning, she created a method for teaching English as a Second Language that relies strongly on using the ears, positioning the tongue and lips, and music. Her language academy, English Voices International, is still active in Bogota, Colombia.
In New York, Alice has been able to pursue her dreams by continuing her musical education at the Integrative Institute of Sound and Music - Open Center Manhattan, NY, where she graduated as a Sound Practitioner, and the Performance Wellness Program where she studied under the late Louise Montello, Founder of PW at the New School, Manhattan. Sound and Music Therapy have enriched the workshops Alice designed for drug and crime prevention, gender reconciliation, motivational and self-empowerment for youth, and mindfulness for all ages. She has two adult children and four wonderful granddaughters from Colombia.
Cat Toren: Sound Practitioner and Program Designer
Cat Toren has a passion for everything sound! She is an award-winning pianist, composer, improviser, teacher and sound practitioner. She holds a Masters of Music in composition from the State University of New York and a certificate in Sound Healing from the Sage Academy of Sound Energy. Her music is described as “vibrant, earthy and spiritual” (UK Vibe), and noted for using “bold atmospheric abstraction and fluid melodies to mix deep human warmth with creative fire” (Coastal Jazz and Blues).
Cat’s latest record release, Cat Toren’s HUMAN KIND, features music stemming from the spiritual jazz tradition with the intention of bringing awareness to the current civil rights movement and promoting empathy and openness. It has sold copies worldwide, receiving critically acclaimed reviews. It is described as a “powerful recording” on The Best New Jazz on Bandcamp. The International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation asked Cat to be an artist speaker at the University of British Columbia Colloquium 2017. Her lecture, “Cat Toren’s HUMAN KIND: Music for Empathic Activism” was also published in the online creative arts journal “Nothing to Say”.
Cat’s compositions have been in short films, on television and premiered in various live settings. She has composed for ensembles such as New York’s Cassatt Quartet and the Canadian new music ensemble Orkestra Futura. Cat belongs to the New York City Emerging Composer’s Collective (NYCECC). Accolades include a JUNO Award for Best Instrumental Album of the Year 2013 and a Western Canadian Music Award 2016 with the co-led ensemble Pugs and Crows.
During her free time Cat enjoys running in Prospect Park, rock climbing with her husband and relaxing with her cats.
Agustin Torres: Executive Advisor and Program Designer
Born in Mar-del-Plata, Argentina, Agustin spent many years establishing humanitarian programs in Argentina and Colombia. He worked with the government and the private sector to distribute humanitarian aid to thousands of displaced people in Colombia during the most violent years of internal conflict. He founded the HC Foundation in Bogota, where he directed programs to motivate and educate derelict youth and impoverished children. More recently, he received his certification as a Business and Personal Coach from the Ontological Coaching Alliance, Buenos Aires, and the ICF (International Coaching Federation). Agustin is also an accomplished singer-songwriter. During his years of service, his music has carried a powerful messenger of hope and encouragement to thousands of young lives. Having survived difficult adolescence, he resonates with young people manifesting behavioral and emotional instability, and he is a gifted program director for motivational and personal empowerment programs. He sees the potential in each young person and helps them to discover who they are.
Idy Sanchez: Percussionist and Logistics Supervisor
Idy was born on the Pacific Coast of Colombia in a beautiful village in one of the most untouched jungle zones in South America. As a young boy, he swam in the rivers and scouted the forests, developing a natural talent for sports and a keen sixth sense that comes from being in touch with nature. He received his title in Sports Applied to Medicine and went on to become a key player in Colombia’s National Basketball League. He worked with the Colombian Government designing sports and recreation programs for 30 government centers attending underprivileged children and youth. Six years ago, he relocated to NYC with his family of four children, and since then he has been working as GVSolutions’ Financial Administrator. When he discovered the field of Sound Therapy, his Latin/African musical heritage surfaced through his skills with percussion. Idy’s multi-ethnic background, compassionate approach to youth, and musical talents make him an essential part of our team.
Elyce Semenec, Founder and CEO of ES Wellness
Elyce Semenec Wellness supports busy, stressed-out people to feel centered and grounded by releasing tension and tightness from their bodies, minds and nervous systems with Yoga and Mindfulness Meditations techniques so they can move their bodies joyfully, regulate their emotions for better communication, and develop skills to help them concentrate and focus more deeply.
Elyce is a certified Yoga teacher and Mindfulness Meditation teacher with over twenty years teaching experience. She is has worked with K-8 students in NYC public schools, seniors with the City Parks Foundation, and adults in group classes at the YMCA. Elyce regularly leads personal and Corporate Wellness Retreats and workshops that encourage people to take deep breaths, relax the nervous system, and feel better in mind and body.
When she’s not teaching, Elyce can be found reading a good book under a tree.
Elyce is available to teach in-person and remote classes to groups and individuals in the NYC area. Elyce can be reached at www.elycesemenec.com or email: elyce@elycesemenecwellness.com