There’s a song inside of you.
Next Retreat June 11-14, 2026
✶
Next Retreat June 11-14, 2026 ✶
If there’s a song you’ve always wanted to write, for a partner, a parent, a friend, a child, a cause, a passion, yourself, but… you don’t know how to do it.
This is your chance.
WATCH NOW
Heartstrings is an exclusive songwriting retreat for people who never thought they’d have the chance to write and record a song.
Spend three days with JUNO Award-nominated singer-songwriter Peter Katz and JUNO Award winning and Grammy Award-nominated producer Rob Szabo at Katz’s private lakeside retreat one hour north of Kingston, Ontario, where you’ll write, record, and produce a song of your very own.
Along with an intimate and supportive cohort of other first-time songwriters, Katz and Szabo will guide you through the entire process of creating a song from start to finish in only three days.
No previous musical experience is required.
You’ll learn the fundamentals of songwriting, be led through inspiring writing exercises to help shape your story into a song that captures exactly what you want to say. Then, you’ll move to the studio where Katz and Szabo will guide your performance (don’t worry, no experience required), and add just the right production flourishes to make your song shine.
Meet the Heartstrings team
Peter Katz is a JUNO Award and Canadian Screen Award–nominated singer-songwriter, speaker and facilitator with more than 35 million streams worldwide. He’s performed in over a dozen countries, shared the stage and studio with the likes of Glen Hansard and Garth Hudson (The Band), and has been praised by CBC’s Tom Power as having “one of the most heartfelt, beautiful, and vulnerable records of the year.”
His music has appeared in countless TV shows and movies like Lethal Weapon, Heartland, Sullivan’s Crossing, and the Rio Olympics broadcast on CBC.
Peter is also an in-demand speaker, facilitator and experience designer for Fortune 500 companies and major institutions around the world.
His work — whether on stage, screen, or in conversation — reflects a career built not on hype, but on heart.
Rob Szabo is an award winning Producer, Music Editor, Composer & Songwriter.
Rob has produced recordings that have garnered: a 2013 Juno Award, Three Juno nominations (2018, 2017 & 2015), Producer of the Year Award at The 2012 Canadian Folk Music Awards and many others.
His work on The Fabulous Thunderbirds album also received a 2025 Grammy Awards nomination.
Most recently Rob was the Music Editor and composed several tracks for the 2021 animated hit PAW Patrol: The Movie (Spin Master /Nickelodeon/Paramount) & PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie which was the #1 MOVIE IN THE WORLD on it’s release weekend.
You’ll leave with a recording that you can share with anyone — a lifelong memory of a dream fulfilled that you can replay anytime with the press of a button.
And (as many of our past participants have shared) you’ll also leave with a new sense of self, of confidence, and of possibility.
Who comes
to Heartstrings?
Given how high-touch the experience is, each session of Heartstrings accepts only three participants.
This intimate retreat is designed for anyone who has ever dreamed of writing and recording a song of their own but thought that — because of time, ability, confidence, experience — it was out of their reach.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t consider yourself a singer, can’t play an instrument, or haven’t written rhymes since grade school. All you need is the willingness to share your story.
You bring the dream. Heartstrings brings the rest.
Meet Joanna
She’s a digital marketing consultant with “zero background in singing and songwriting” who wanted to write a once-in-a-lifetime love letter to her family. She arrived at the 2024 Heartstrings Retreat with a hopeful heart, and left with her beautiful song: “Dreaming Of You”:
“It was wild. I still can’t get over the fact that in the span of three days I created something real. Not just an idea, or a noodle of a song. It turned into a real thing.”
“The Heartstrings retreat was more than I could have ever imagined. I feel forever changed. I'm leaving with the greatest natural high I've ever experienced and cannot wait to share my song with all the people that mean the most to me. Thank you just doesn't cut it. THANK YOU!”
— Adam Tuerlings, Co-Founder Lipservice Agency
Whats included in the retreat?
3 nights’ accommodation in a private room at a gorgeous lakeside property
All meals, snacks, and beverages (The Heartstrings menu is healthy, wholesome, homemade, and delicious. We’re happy to accommodate dietary restrictions whenever possible.)
Songwriting fundamentals session
Co-writing session with Peter and Rob
Creation and Production of a professional-quality studio recording of your song
Boat rides, waterskiing, sunsets, sauna, hot tub, paddle board, kayaks, and all the fun cottage things you could ever want!
Schedule
“If you’d asked me a year ago if I thought I could write, record, and sing a song, the answer would have been a hard ‘no’. It felt like a dream that was unattainable. Once I had the people around me, it all felt possible — and it became this magical thing.”
— Joanna Campbell, Digital Marketing Consultant
Save the date for our 2026 Heartstrings Sessions:
June 11–14, 2026 & September 10 –13, 2026
