Theater Composer Erin Kamler Returns to Music with New Album 'Refuge'

Musical theater composer and musician Erin Kamler has debuted her new album, Refuge. A meditation on the places and spaces that provide comfort in times of conflict, the album was inspired by Kamler’s time in Thailand throughout the COVID pandemic and brings together Buddhist and Hebrew mantras with songs of love and grief. 

Refuge features intimate piano-vocal melodies and tender performances from members of Kutumba, a folk instrumental ensemble committed to the research, preservation and celebration of indigenous Nepali music. A true global endeavor, Refuge was recorded between Chiang Mai, Thailand, Kathmandu, Nepal, Los Angeles, and New York.

The album marks Kamler’s return to recorded music after her success in the 2000s under the moniker Mantra Girl, whose pop-chant album Truth was praised by Billboard as “as calming as it is energizing.” The album featured an inspiring collection of ancient Sanskrit-based mantras set to stirring dance rhythms, with instrumentation from members of the New York Philharmonic.

About Erin Kamler:

Dr. Erin Kamler, PhD is an American writer, composer, musician and academic researcher who works at the intersection of feminist social justice and the arts. Over the past fifteen years, she has worked as a gender equality consultant and program director for international development agencies, NGOs, academic institutions and civil society organizations in Thailand, Burma, and throughout Southeast and East Asia. Her book, “Rewriting the Victim: Dramatization as Research in Thailand’s Anti-Trafficking Movement” is available from Oxford University Press.

An award-winning composer and playwright, Erin grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan and began working in the arts at a young age before going on to win multiple awards for her musicals, including the Los Angeles Ovation Award for Best Book, Music and Lyrics for an Original Musical, the Backstage Garland Awards for Best Playwriting and Best Musical Score (DIVORCE! THE MUSICAL); New Dramatists’ Frederick Loewe Award for Best Original Musical (RUNWAY SIXTY-NINE); and Stephen Sondheim’s Young Playwrights Award. As a singer and songwriter, her recordings can be heard on numerous albums and films.

Photo credit: Kate Turning