Social Justice Songwriting Fall Retreat
With Taína Asili at Soul Fire Farm
Joined by co-facilitators Martín Urbach and Gaetano Vaccaro
Nov. 20-23, 2026
Join Taína Asili, with guest facilitators Martin Urbach and Gaetano Vaccaro, for a 4-day, 3-night social justice songwriting retreat on the campus of Soul Fire Farm*. Through workshops, independent writing, collaboration, and evening open mics, we’ll connect our stories with our visions for a just world and explore how our songs can support movements for liberation. Come ready to nurture your creativity, build community, and grow songs that speak to the world we long to create.
- Learn songwriting tools and strategies to inspire action.
- Dedicate time to write independently and collaborate.
- Explore new vocal, instrumental and percussion techniques.
- Share songs in progress at evening open mics.
- Enjoy time to rest and reflect at Soul Fire Farm and be nourished by SFF’s chefs.
Note: A full agenda will be provided in November.
*This is an independent event and is not sponsored by or affiliated with Soul Fire Farm.
Arrival: Fri. Nov 20, 4-6 PM
Departure: Mon. Nov. 23, 11-1 PM
Address: Soul Fire Farm, 1972 NY-2, Petersburgh, NY 12138
Accommodations & Pricing
The retreat includes a 3-night stay. Nightly rates include retreat participation, accommodations, and meals. A 50% deposit is due at the time of registration, with the remaining balance due by October 31. There will be up to 14-16 participants in total and registration is first come, first serve.
The Lodge (in photo to the right) has 6 rooms shared rooms with 2 twin beds, as well as a full kitchen and living room space. The Nest has 2 private rooms each with full bed in each, plus a common space.
Shared accommodations in The Lodge — $265/night: Share a room with one fellow retreat participant, with a single bed for each guest. The Lodge has two shared bathrooms.
Private accommodations in The Nest — $330/night: The Nest offers two private rooms, each with a double bed for a solo guest or two people comfortable sharing a bed. Guests in both rooms share one bathroom.
Scholarship shared accommodations — $130/night: There are two reduced-rate spaces available for participants for whom the full cost would be a significant financial barrier.
Guests are required to bring their own towel, pillowcase, fitted sheet, top sheet (twin size), blanket, and toiletries. There are two bedrooms available on the first floor of The Lodge (no steps), however the accommodations spaces are not ADA or wheelchair accessible. Air filters will be placed in the common areas of both The Lodge and The Nest.
Meals
Throughout the retreat, enjoy nourishing lunches and dinners prepared by Soul Fire Farm’s chefs and served in our Program Center (image to the left). The main hall hosts “family style” meals prepared in the adjacent kitchen, and will also be used for programming.
A self-serve breakfast will be available each morning in The Lodge kitchen, where most guests will be staying.
We will provide vegetarian and vegan options farm-to-table, and gluten-free options as requested.
The Campus
There will also be time to rest, reflect, and connect with the land. Soul Fire Farm is on 7 acres of sacred land, originally stewarded by the Mohican Nation. Participants will be shown areas that will be available for walk. The Soul Fire Farm Institute (SFFI) campus is comprised of 4 buildings that are open to the retreat participants and 5 private buildings. There are lawns for gathering and lounging and a ½ acre pond.
Please keep in mind that temperatures average around 45°F during the day and dip below 30°F in the evening. Snow may be possible.
The beautifully built Sanctuary and Program Center will be our learning spaces for the retreat.
In addition to our shared meal space, The Program Center will serve as an indoor space for programming. The mudroom in this building has dedicated cubbies for participants use. This space also includes a tea station, a library, and a mezzanine area.
The Sanctuary (image to the left) is a beautiful space for workshops and cozy evening gatherings. The Sanctuary is designed to be oriented to using the floor for activities and seating, with meditation cushions, large floor mats, backjack floor chairs and small support cushions. For individuals who are not comfortable with floor seating, there are 8 foldable wooden chairs with cushions.
The ventilation system in both spaces are designed to to maintain a safe and high level of indoor air quality.
The Instructors
Taína Asili (she/her) is a dynamic singer, composer, interdisciplinary artist, and activist carrying on the tradition of her Puerto Rican ancestors, fusing past and present struggles into one soulful and defiant voice. She is celebrated by NPR, Rolling Stone, Billboard and Democracy Now! for her soulful, genre-blending music echoing calls for love and liberation. For over 25 years she has offered energetic performances at diverse venues nationwide, from iconic stages such as Lincoln Center, to renowned festivals like San Francisco Pride, to historic events like The Women’s March on Washington, inspiring audiences to dance to the rhythm of rebellion.
Taína’s work not only lives on the performance stage, but is integrated into a wide spectrum of social change movements. You can find her performing at protests and demonstrations, or leading songs on marches and pilgrimages. She also writes anthems that give voice to struggles for liberation, from “We Rise,” written for One Billion Rising and “Abolition,” created with the Social Justice Portal Project, to her renowned anthem “No Es Mi Presidente,” played at demonstrations throughout the nation. Her latest interdisciplinary show, Fever Pitch, combines original music, dance, and video to address the urgency of climate justice. In September 2025, she embarked on the Fever Pitch Pilgrimage, a 15-day, 156-mile journey walking from Albany to Brooklyn, bringing music to communities through concerts and public rituals that connected art with frontline activism. Today, Taína serves as the U.S. Coordinator for One Billion Rising and as a founding board member and Board Chair of Soul Fire Farm.
Taína brings her decades of experience as a social justice songwriter and cultural worker to her teaching. She has taught at K-12 schools, colleges, conferences, and writing retreats, working with children and adults. Her approach supports participants in connecting personal stories with visions for justice and developing songs that strengthen movements for liberation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies from Binghamton University and a Master of Arts in Transformative Language Arts from Goddard College, where she began developing the original social justice songwriting curriculum she facilitates today.
Martín Urbach (he/him), Latine arts educator, scholar, and artivist, loves collective drumming and singing as instruments for liberation, healing, and systemic change. With over two decades of experience in K-12 public schools and community spaces, Martín’s work lives at the intersection of socially conscious music-making, creative resistance, and transformative justice. As a student of abolition, Martín is rooted in a commitment to build new songs and new worlds by teaching and learning with-not for- students and by making music with-not-for communities.
As a Ph.D. candidate in Urban Education at the CUNY Graduate Center, Martín researches how creative resistance and community-centered artivism through a Music Of The Oppressed framework for community music making for social justice based on songwriting and songleading.
Through participatory songleading and circle drumming, Martín creates accessible, joyful spaces where youth and adults alike, can discuss how systemic oppression affects them and then, how to disrupt it by embodying creative resistance through through culturally relevant counterstorytelling, cultural musical practices and visionary abolitionist dreams that bring spiritual, political and material change for our communities.
Martín’s academic foundation includes a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the Manhattan School of Music, a Bachelor of Arts in Jazz Studies from the University of New Orleans, advanced certification from Brooklyn College, and doctoral coursework in Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is also a U.S. Department of State Cultural Ambassador, a five-time GRAMMY Music Educator Award nominee, and a softee when in comes to chocolate chip cookies and bougie espresso.
Gaetano Vaccaro (they/them) is a guitarist, producer, cinematographer, and educator who inspires people through the arts to think creatively about their lives and the world. Their musical journey began on saxophone and grew to encompass guitar, bass, and keyboard, with guitar becoming their primary instrument. They have received instruction from masters such as Pat Martino in jazz guitar, and have studied flamenco guitar with Manuel “Lito” Espinosa in Seville, Spain. Gaetano is also Taína Asili’s partner in love, music, and revolution, has collaborated with her as a co-songwriter and guitarist for over a decade, recording four albums and performing throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Together, they have also produced several award-winning music videos and documentaries.
Questions can be sent to info[at]tainaasili.com