Born in Seoul,
South Korea, Amber Field grew up with her adoptive mother
and sister in Korea, Nepal, Liberia, and the United
States. She started playing piano when she was five years old. At Pomona College, she studied abroad
in India, focusing on Hindi and development studies, and received a B.A. in Indian History.
Always an
adventurer and explorer, she left to live in Europe and Asia for
two years in 1998. On this trip, she worked on organic farms,
studied permaculture, wrote an ethnography on the Iban (former
headhunters of Borneo), and volunteered for various projects supporting
indigenous rights and cultures.
Along
the way, she came into contact with meditation and yoga, two important
practices in her healing journey. On that same trip, she began
playing the didgeridoo, Arabic tambourine, djembe, and tabla.
She composed her own songs and discovered the healing effects
of transmitting/transforming her emotions through sound. Amber also started to make didgeridoos out of bamboo, and plays on her own hand-carved didges. Amber
moved to India and lived there from 2002-2004 studying tabla and
esraj (Indian classical music) in Varanasi and later at Visva Bharati University.
After a near-death
experience with dengue fever in 2004, Amber was inspired more
than ever to continue down the path of love and healing. She moved
to Korea to learn about her birth culture and share Indian and
fusion music with Koreans. She started two band projects, Anokha
and Bijly, that performed at festivals all over the country.
Amber moved to San Francisco in 2006 after many years abroad deepening her spiritual and musical practices. She teaches music at the Fusion (mixed race and transracially adopted youth) and PACT (adoptive families) summer camps as well as expressive arts workshops at Buddhist teen retreats in California.
Her short film "Jagadamba, Mother of the Universe" is playing in film festivals around the world. It explores her personal experience as a queer transracial adoptee and her healing journey through music. 
Amber incorporates
all of her diverse musical influences, styles, and instruments
in a fresh, unique, energetic way. The consummate multi-instrumentalist and traveler, she weaves a beautiful tapestry of Indian, African, Arabian, and Western sounds. Her music reflects
that the whole world is her home, and most importantly, home is
in her heart.
Amber fully
believes that we can all be the change we want to see in the world,
and that love is the supreme healing energy.
Amber moved to Peru in 2010 to work with MUSAS Peru for the sexual health, education and empowerment of Peruvian adolescents, women and the queer community. MUSAS Peru provides free educational videos and workshops on issues of sexual health, sexuality, and gender.
With Amber Expressive Arts & Healing Center in Cusco, Amber teaches classes on creative expression through writing, sound, voice, drumming, and movement. She also provides healing services through guided meditations and visualizations, didgeridoo sound healings, and full moon celebration rituals for women. Currently, Amber leads meditation, chanting, and sound workshops at Willka Tika retreats and Yoga Limatambo.
Amber speaks about her life in an interview on KPFA's APEX Express February 4, 2010. Her interview begins at 40:45 and goes for about ten minutes. Enjoy!
