Kayleen Asbo is a passionate scholar: a cultural historian, musician, writer and teacher who weaves myth, music, psychology, history and art with experiential learning. A faculty member of the Pacifica Graduate Institute and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Kayleen also teaches regularly for the Osher Life Long Learning Institutes at UC Berkeley, Sonoma State University and Dominican University. Her classes on a wide array of topics ranging from Depth Psychology to Dante to the History of Classical Music have been hailed as "inspirational", "fascinating and compelling", "transformational" and "truly life changing" . Her favorite description came from an event producer who introduced her as a cross between Joseph Campbell, Leonard Bernstein and Wonder Woman.
Beginning in 2020, the focus of her work will be the creation os The Alchemy of the Arts Academy, a combination of online library and in-person classes and concerts dedicated to showcasing the resilience of the human spirit throughout history and creating intergenerational community through beauty. Read more here.
Educated at Smith College, Mills College, the San Francisco Conservatory, Pacifica Graduate Institute and the University of California, Kayleen wrote her Ph.D dissertation on Passion and Paradox: The Myths of Mary Magdalene in Music, Art and Culture . Kayleen also holds three master's degrees: one each in music (piano performance), mythology and psychology. Kayleen has been a guest presenter and lecturer on the intersection of history, mythology, psychology and the arts at Oxford University in England, the Assisi Institute of Depth Psychology Conference in Italy, the Houston Jung Institute, Chartres Cathedral in France, Grace Cathedral and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. A faculty member of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for nineteen years, she is a pre-concert lecturer with the San Francisco Opera and the music historian in residence for the Santa Rosa Symphony and has been a consultant in archetypal psychology, myth and ritual for Proctor and Gamble and religious leaders throughout the country. The Creative Director and Resident Mythologist for Mythica, Kayleen leads workshops and retreats throughout the country and offers pilgrimages to sacred sites in Europe every year.
Press about Kayleen's work:
Click here to read an article about Kayleen published in the Pacifica Post
Click here to read a feature article about Kayleen's work with the Santa Rosa SYmphony
Just a few testimonials :
Kayleen Asbo is a force of nature. She doesn't just entertain and educate: she actually inspires.
-Alan Silow, President of the Santa Rosa Symphony
"Kayleen Asbo is one of the best mythologists I have ever met in my life. She is a star who has brought so much to all of us who are looking and seeking to understand what spirit is. She has a way of creating a confluence between love, passion and scholarship"
–Dr. Michael Conforti, Director of the Assisi Institute of Depth Psychology; author of Field, Form and Fate
" Superlatives don't begin to describe the teaching of Kayleen Asbo. She is more than a "teacher" and her classes are more than "classes"... She combines the disciplines of music, art, literature, mathematics, mythology and psychology and philosophy so seamlessly that one is simply amazed.
I am a retired physician, having been in practice for 36 years and have had continuing medical education during all those years. In all my years of schooling, including under-graduate and graduate school, I have never had a teacher with as much impact as Kayleen Asbo.
One must experience her in the classroom to understand the phenomenon she is and what makes her classes an "event" rather than merely a "class". Not only is her knowledge virtually limitless, her charismatic presentation is passionate and flawless. I sit on the edge of my seat waiting in anticipation as to what she will say next. She combines the different disciplines and brings them together in such a way as to not merely teach facts or events but to bring them to life and to demonstrate how these facts and events effect life for us personally. Ultimately she teaches life in its greatest terms.".
–Dr. Howard Lee, Osher Lifelong Learning Student
"Kayleen's gift for making classical music come alive is nothing short of breath-taking.
I leave every class with my mind on fire and my heart burning with inspiration and hope"
"Pure passion",
"A modern day Renaissance woman",
"The perfect combination of head and heart. "
"Unlike any teacher I've ever experienced- a total commitment to scholarship coupled with the capacity to truly touch and open your heart"
"Kayleen makes me laugh, cry, learn and hope- all at once"
- Osher Lifelong Learning Student Evaluations
Beginning in 2020, the focus of her work will be the creation os The Alchemy of the Arts Academy, a combination of online library and in-person classes and concerts dedicated to showcasing the resilience of the human spirit throughout history and creating intergenerational community through beauty. Read more here.
Educated at Smith College, Mills College, the San Francisco Conservatory, Pacifica Graduate Institute and the University of California, Kayleen wrote her Ph.D dissertation on Passion and Paradox: The Myths of Mary Magdalene in Music, Art and Culture . Kayleen also holds three master's degrees: one each in music (piano performance), mythology and psychology. Kayleen has been a guest presenter and lecturer on the intersection of history, mythology, psychology and the arts at Oxford University in England, the Assisi Institute of Depth Psychology Conference in Italy, the Houston Jung Institute, Chartres Cathedral in France, Grace Cathedral and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. A faculty member of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for nineteen years, she is a pre-concert lecturer with the San Francisco Opera and the music historian in residence for the Santa Rosa Symphony and has been a consultant in archetypal psychology, myth and ritual for Proctor and Gamble and religious leaders throughout the country. The Creative Director and Resident Mythologist for Mythica, Kayleen leads workshops and retreats throughout the country and offers pilgrimages to sacred sites in Europe every year.
Press about Kayleen's work:
Click here to read an article about Kayleen published in the Pacifica Post
Click here to read a feature article about Kayleen's work with the Santa Rosa SYmphony
Just a few testimonials :
Kayleen Asbo is a force of nature. She doesn't just entertain and educate: she actually inspires.
-Alan Silow, President of the Santa Rosa Symphony
"Kayleen Asbo is one of the best mythologists I have ever met in my life. She is a star who has brought so much to all of us who are looking and seeking to understand what spirit is. She has a way of creating a confluence between love, passion and scholarship"
–Dr. Michael Conforti, Director of the Assisi Institute of Depth Psychology; author of Field, Form and Fate
" Superlatives don't begin to describe the teaching of Kayleen Asbo. She is more than a "teacher" and her classes are more than "classes"... She combines the disciplines of music, art, literature, mathematics, mythology and psychology and philosophy so seamlessly that one is simply amazed.
I am a retired physician, having been in practice for 36 years and have had continuing medical education during all those years. In all my years of schooling, including under-graduate and graduate school, I have never had a teacher with as much impact as Kayleen Asbo.
One must experience her in the classroom to understand the phenomenon she is and what makes her classes an "event" rather than merely a "class". Not only is her knowledge virtually limitless, her charismatic presentation is passionate and flawless. I sit on the edge of my seat waiting in anticipation as to what she will say next. She combines the different disciplines and brings them together in such a way as to not merely teach facts or events but to bring them to life and to demonstrate how these facts and events effect life for us personally. Ultimately she teaches life in its greatest terms.".
–Dr. Howard Lee, Osher Lifelong Learning Student
"Kayleen's gift for making classical music come alive is nothing short of breath-taking.
I leave every class with my mind on fire and my heart burning with inspiration and hope"
"Pure passion",
"A modern day Renaissance woman",
"The perfect combination of head and heart. "
"Unlike any teacher I've ever experienced- a total commitment to scholarship coupled with the capacity to truly touch and open your heart"
"Kayleen makes me laugh, cry, learn and hope- all at once"
- Osher Lifelong Learning Student Evaluations
