Sept 2010 news

Notes from the flute world
The tri-state flute circle is going strong and meeting monthly.

NEXT FLUTE CIRCLE MEETING:
Date: SEPTEMBER 18, 2010
Time: 12:00 noon- 2:00pm
Location: Marshall University
Huntington, WV 25704
THE ATRIUM BETWEEN SMITH MUSIC HALL AND SMITH HALL.
Refreshments such as fruits and veggies, trail mix, pretzels, or cookies, and water or teas will be free. Bring finger or easy foods if you'd like.
FOR MORE INFO ABOUT MEETINGS, CHECK OUR:
FACEBOOK PAGE: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=113378260242&v=info
NEW BLOG!: http://trristatenativeflutecircle.blogspot.com/
OR SEND US AN EMAIL: tristateflutecircle@yahoo.com

The Northern Virginia Flute Circles have brought back an event that is extraordinary and very fun. Read the details here:

There're a few slots left for the Flute Fall-In at Camp Bethel near Roanoke on Halloween weekend.

Cost for the three-night, four-day stay is $175 per person, which includes lodging and meals (except for the "dinner-out" on Saturday night) and all other associated activities.

Attendees who'll be bringing some flutes include Brad Young and Roger Bennett. Leonard "Lone Crow" McGann is our facilitator. Gary Cope from Indianapolis, whom some of you know as a fine musician, is coming, as well as Sterling Green, whom many of you know from Festival.

The registration form and all details are at our main Web site, www.potomacflutefestival.org

Registration deadline is October 1, so get those forms in now! First-come, first-served for our maximum attendance of 30 people.

Join us in the House of Towers!
Several other events are brewing with eth NVa. circles - stay tuned
Mid-Winter Concert Series (February 2011)
Flute Spring (Spring 2011)
Potomac Flute Festival Vendor Day (June 25, 2011)

I have been a bit out of touch lately as Nursing School continues but we had a great Timber Flute Festival this summer with Ron Warren and Janice Torres playing and teaching. If you have not heard their new album Aura Surey, Many Roads Home you need to check it out. Visit www.ronwarrenmusic.com to order a CD.

Jan 2010 news

Flute news for Jan 2010 – Happy New Year

We have moved our meetings to every other month and it seems to be working out. Last meeting (November) we even had a new fiddle player come to visit and now we are talking about duet potential if I can ever find the time to owrk on a new tune...

The news:
It's worth repeating to your friends, family, coworkers and casual acquaintances that the Festival is "open to the public."Anyone can attend. The Vendor areas are free admission. The public can attend concerts, and also attend a day's worth of workshops or the entire weekend.Spread the word -- everyone is welcome! What Festival?! The Potomac Native American Flute Festival. This is on eof teh largest and best run gatherings on teh East coast and is coming up in March as a do not miss event. I think we'll see TWO West Virginia Circles attending this year. Great news.

Best rate of only $125 for the entire weekend available through March 1, 2010.There is a wonderful schedule of performers in concert:Friday, March 26: Hawk Henries, followed by Ron Warren and his band, AURA SUREY.Saturday, March 27: two first-timer's at Festival -- Cornell Kinderknecht followed by Suzanne Teng and Mystic Journey.Your favorite vendors will be there plus workshops that will show you how to create new "harmonies" with your flute and many other instruments.Potomac Native American Flute Festival
Remember: BEST FULL FESTIVAL PRICE DEADLINE: MARCH 1, 2010!

In other news, Clint Goss has a new Jam tracks CD available:

The latest in the Jam Tracks series, Jam Tracks in E Minor, has just arrived.
21 tracks of backing music for jamming on an E flute.

The web site now plays a sampler of all the tracks ... here's a direct link, so grab an E flute and start jamming:

http://www.NAFTracks.com/ntem_detail.htm

There is also a youtube video from the 2009 Flute Haven workshop in Pennsylvania

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z36AUECgQr8

There is a great Saturday performance this month at our arts center and so we'll be meeting upstairs rather than in the great hall. Look for signs pointing you the right way.

Some news

Red Moon is what is in my CD player right now. Ron Warren, Ash Dargan, Dawn Avery make a fusion that is tough to describe but great to hear. ronwarrenmusic.com. This one was a long time coming but well worth the wait. AND Ron Warren is coming back to Potomac Flute Festival!

Siyotanka wins a NAMMY for Native Heart Catagory and it really is a wonderful album - take a listen, available at iTunes and at ontos.org


News from Dana Ross about Roy Glass. Roy is western band Cherokee and is invited to play for the studio audience and an appearance on the Late Night with David letterman show. Dana along w/ Keith Davis and Jack Lynn will join Roy and his family for the event. The taping will be on November 17th, 2009 and will air on No...vember 24th, 2009. BTW, Dana is a wonderful flute maker, Dana Ross / Falcon Flutes and Drums

www.falconflutes.com
or call 706-851-7535


Potomac Flute Festival 2010 -- Registeration forms and all main details for the March Festival are at:Potomac Native American Flute FestivalOur concert line-up is as follows:
Friday, March 26: Hawk Henries, followed by Ron Warren and his band.
Saturday, March 27: two first-timer's at Festival -- Cornell Kinderknecht followed by Suzanne Teng.
Register now. Reserve your hotel room now at the Festival rate.And a reminder there is a discussion board at our Facebook page where you can talk about room and/or ride share.

And lastly, while recycling is very important - I never though that someone would come up with a superior use for a re-used material. A cool instrument to go with flute moyodrum.com, recycled propane tanks!

Free Flute Workshop w Ron Warren

Instead of our regular meeting September 12 we will have an all day retreat and flute workshop featuring recording artist Ron Warren. Many know that Ron Warren has been the NAF faculty member at the Timber Flute Festival the past few years. He has offered to work with the West Virginia Native American Flute Circle and the Tri-State Native American Flute Circle to host a free one day workshop Saturday September 12.

Some of our flute circle members have graciously offered to host the event in Mill Creek (30 minutes from Elkins) and we are making a day of it. Come out and enjoy the beautiful fall weather and learn to play, work on your skills, ask questions, tour a flute-making workshop, share a potluck meal and play around the campfire that evening. Student flutes will be available as well. This will be a great time, and hopefully some sort fo new Wv tradition taht will sewll our numbers and bring us together. In this economy it is tough to beat free as well.

Call for directions & to RSVP
304.338.2727 or 703.475.0994

Visit our web sites for questions:
www.wvnativeamericanflutecircle.blogspot.com/
www.fluteportal.com/flutecircles/8
www.fluteportal.com/flutecircles/69 or Tri-State Native American Flute Circle & WV Native American Flute Circle on Facebook


We follow modern powwow etiquette, meaning that our gatherings are alcohol and drug free. No pets please. All enthusiasts & instruments that wish to accompany the NAF are welcome.

Other groups that you should investigate – as they are a lot of fun
Potomac Flute Circle at www.potomacflutecircle.net
Maryland Flute Circle at Bobf64@aol.com
Northern Virginia Flute Circle SJHHill@aol.com
International Native American Flute Association at www.worldflutes.org www.ronwarrenmusic.com/home.html

Timber Flute Festival 2009

If you do not post - folks do not visit, right? We'll I am stopping by to post and I hope someone else will stop by too - it has been too long and the new dog has been keeping my busy (think Marmaduke!) but I am better at sharing the news than making excuses - SO...

June is already here and Timber Flute Festival is approaching. While there remains space available it looks like another great year planned and I wanted to share a few highlights with you.

When the 3rd Annual Tiber Flute Festival comes to the RCCAC on June 21 through the 26 there will be more than just music. A returning feature that on one should miss is the return of the Brown Bagatelles sessions during the festival. These fun and informative sessions are offered Mon-Thurs. at 12:30pm.
The lunchtime sessions include; Mon – South American & Spanish Music with Julio Alves & Wendell Dobbs; Tues – Katy McClane, The Arabic Ney Flute; Wed - The Aural Tradition in Music with Grey Larsen and Ron Warren; Thurs – Flute Making Mysteries with John Gallagher & Colin St. Martin. Bring your lunch and enjoy these open to the public sessions.
Other public venues include; Mondays Contra Dance at 8pm; Tuesday concert at 8pm featuring classical & baroque flute music with Colin St. Martin, Wendell Dobbs and members of the US Army Fife and Drum Corps; Thursday concert at 8pm featuring Irish and Native American flute music with Grey Larsen, Cindy Kallet, Ron Warren and Janice Torres; Friday free performance at 3pm by all festival participants.

All evening concerts require an admission fee for non-festival participants

Wednesday evening will offer the regular Pickin’ In the Park session at Elkins City Park with the twist being that flute players from the festival will be joining area musicians. It is sure to be a unique evening and one you’ll want to plan to attend as well.

So if you are thinking about coming out for a peice of eth festival you could still do that as well on a day rate - and plan to catch concerts and lunchtime sessions that you are in town for to maximaize your visit. We'll we doing a lot of flute playing and would welcome our WV folks to take advantage of the opportunities open to the public.

July 11th the RCCAC opens a traveling Smithsonian exhibit called New Harmonies and this will provide many great music opportunities for summer. Native American Flute will be included and I'll have more about that in another post.

March 09 news & meeting

March 09 meeting

We will meet this Saturday (March 14) from 1-3pm and this month we will view a flute documentary as one of our activities.
We will also have some guests from Tri-state Native American Flute Circle to jam and play flute with so we should have a great meeting again this month.

This will be our meeting leading up to Potomac Native American Flute Festival in Rockville, MD. So we may coordinate ride share and other arrangements. There are still some spots available to attend the festival and the line up will be terrific so you really need to come to the event this year if you can swing it. Another feature of this year’s event will be private lessons available by appointment with all of the performers which has become popular at similar events. The Potomac Flute Circle link is on the right and you can view the entire schedule for the weekend. I will be writing about highlights after the event, but you’ll want to see it for yourself!

Plans continue with our own Elkins event: Timber Flute Festival June 21-26th. A quote from the press release follows:
“The festival will focus on several arts associated with wooden flutes: the one-keyed flute (Baroque/Classical Eras) to the eight-keyed flute (Late Classical/Romantic), Irish traditional music, the Native American flute and fifes. Each day will include a morning session dedicated to a broad experience with each of the traditions followed by an afternoon session for in depth studies in a chosen tradition.

Festival participants can move from one tradition to the other or solely focus on one tradition. Players of modern metal flutes are welcome to attend. Teachers will help you adapt your modern instrument to the playing of Irish traditional music or Baroque music and provide opportunities for you to experiment with wooden instruments. “This is a non-competitive atmosphere,” Dobbs explained, “and we provide hands-on instruction that is not superficial.”

Teachers for the Timber Flutes Festival are stars in their chosen areas. They include Wendell Dobbs, Colin St. Martin, Ron Warren and Grey Larsen. Guitarist Cindy Kallet will assist with Irish traditional music as well as lead workshops on flute accompaniment. Renowned flutemaker John Gallagher will be on hand to explain the construction of fine wooden flutes.”

The link on the right will take you to the TFF site and they have a Face Book group now as well.

January 09 notes & news

Here are some of the news bits I have been getting in January. I have also had the great treat of getting out to Phoenix and playing flute with the Arizona Flute Circle while visiting family. I hope everyone has had musical inspiration from all the wintery weather.

Note that Jan Seiden and Jeffrey Kuhn's will perform on Sunday, February 15, 2009

Jan writes “Please join us for a special afternoon to benefit for The International Rescue Committee, www.TheIRC.org”

Sunday, February 15, 2009
4:00 - 5:30pm
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockville
100 Welsh Park Drive
Rockville, MD
Suggested donation: $15.00 at the door
Reception follows the concert


Dana Ross was able to raise $545 to help Randy Stenzel with medical bills through a charity auction of an incredible White Buffalo Flute he crafted. You can still see the flute photos on Ebay at the link below:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190283316602&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:1123
Great job Dana on a beautiful instrument. You can find more of Dana Ross's work at Falcon Flutes and Drums.

Flute business news: Several folks have new flute business ventures Mark Purtill, has started a company and web site called Anasazi Dream Flutes. Mark offers a PVC version of the Anasazi flute to allow flute players to become familiar with the instrument. Flutes on his site are in three separate models (in A, C, & D). Each flute is PVC and decorated in a variety of natural and painted finishes.

Val Korbin is a Pennsylvania based flute maker who is a well known contributor to the yahoo Basic Flute makers group. He is now offering flutes and tools for flute makers getting started too. His site is www.hawkeyesnest.com

Festival news:
Dates are set for the 2009 Yosemite Flute and Arts Festival. September 25, 26, 27 – 2009.

The news I have seen is that the 2009 Oklahoma Flute Festival will not occur. This is a big loss in my opinion because I have heard a great number of first hand accounts of how well attended and how much fun this event was to be a part of.

There are several new events cropping up for 2009. The First Annual Magic Valley Flute & Art Festival will be held at the Twin Falls County Fairgrounds in Filer, Idaho on the 19, 20, 21 of June 2009. The web sit is up but a little sparse. http://www.magicvalleyflutefest.com/


Clint Goss reports “Oct 15-18 Vera and I will host the East-Coast "Flute Haven Native Flute School". Sessions will run Thurs evening through Sunday Noon in Phoenixville, PA and will focus on playing and techniques and jamming with other instruments. The program will include studio recording, workshops, and a major music jam-fest event on Saturday evening. Vera and I are joined by music facilitation pros Eric and Lynn Miller.” This is very close to Philly and will be well attended. Clint is a regular presenter at Potomac Flute Festival and at Zion where his classes are always well received.

In the same email Goss writes, “The Zion Canyon Native Flute School will run May 17-22, 2009. It was a huge hit last year and the program has been expanded for this year. Vince Chafin, Scott August, Cornell Kinderknecht, William Hoshal, and Vera and I will facilitate a full schedule of sessions throughout the week.”

Zion Canyon - May 17-22: http://www.ZionCanyonNativeFluteSchool.com

Flute Haven - Oct 17-22: http://www.NativeFluteSchool.com

Autumn Flute News

First, the disappointing news: Leonard McGann's annual Flute Fall In will not be scheduled for this year and Leonard tells me that they may try it again next year, stay tuned.

2009 Potomac Native American Flute Festival – Put it on you Calendar! The sixth Potomac Native American Flute Festival will be held the weekend of March 27-29, 2009 at the Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, MD. Confirmed performers include Scott August and Autumn’s Child featuring Mark Holland on Friday night; and Mark “Thunderwalker” Camden and The Jeff Ball Band on Saturday night. There will also be a 90 minute Saturday afternoon concert featuring 3 artists: Jan Seiden, Jonny Lipford, and the duo of David Landis and Diana Sunday (from the DC-local group KIVA). Workshops will be held throughout the event, which is scheduled to run from 3:00PM Friday, March 27 to 3:00PM Sunday, March 29. This years Potomac Native American Flute Festival features the theme "Winds of Change."
The Potomac and Northern Virginia Flute Circles web site is being completely renovated, so please check back in a few weeks for further details and how to register. Some additional festival information is posted at their web site (see links at the right)

From Clint Goss; “I've just updated the version of Edward Kort's NAFlutomat program that is available on FluteKey.com to the latest version. It is now version 1.37.1. (Ed'snumbering omits the leading "1." and is just 37.1).Version 37.1 is a minor update from the long-standing version 37 that has beenposted in the Files section of this group since December '07.”Here's the link: www.flutekey.com and scroll down to the third section "Flute Construction" and click on"NAFlutomat - NAF Design Tool"

Jan Seiden has another great concert event coming up. Jan states “I have honor and great pleasure of appearing in concert with Arvel Bird (southern Paiute and violinist extraordinaire) and Art Shegonee (Menominee dancer) in a concert to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.”

In Concert: Arvel Bird, Jan Seiden and Art Shegonee
Friday, November 21, 2008 7:00pm
Calvary United Methodist Church, Annapolis, MD
Tickets: adults $15.00 advance, $20 at the door, children 5 - 12 yrs; $5.00
for tickets, call Randy Sisulak at: 410-721-3963

Ron Warren talks about playing for the Pope

Ron Warren Native American Flute faculty for Timber Flute Festival in Elkins talks about playing flute for the Pope

With less than four weeks to go before the Timber Flute Festival in Elkins we are in the final preparations for a great event this year. While there is still space available for this years festival, word has gotten out and the festival continues to grow. We sincerely hope you will choose to join us for the fun and amazing music planned for this year.

Ron Warren’s concert performance during the Timber Flute Festival will be on Thursday evening June 26 and tickets are available through the Randolph County Community Arts Center. Thursday evening’s concert will feature the Native American flute trio with flutist Ron Warren, guitarist Lenny Stevens and vocalist/percussionist Janice Torres. Irish flutist Grey Larsen with guitarist Cindy Kallet will also perform that evening. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for elders/seniors.

Ron Warren had the tremendous opportunity to play Native American Flute for the Pope during the stadium mass in Washington, DC on April 17, 2008. He was kind enough to share some of his insights about the event.
“My colleague, Tracy McDonnell, had invited me to perform with her amazing “Inter-cultural Choir” which encompassed singers from all over the metropolitan area. In truth, I love musical opportunities like this. It challenges me to explore all the capabilities of my flutes and forces me to make music outside my usual habits. Along with everything else, Tracy asked me if I could play a solo introduction for the Gregorian chant, “Veni Creator Spiritus”. Many of the ancient chants sound quite beautiful on our flutes.”

“The highpoint of the Mass is Communion. Just before the people receive communion, the Celebrant of the Mass (Pope Benedict in this case) speaks special words over the bread and the wine that will be shared. For many Catholics, this is the most sacred moment in the Mass.”

“And it was at this point in the proceedings that Great Mystery, or perhaps that trickster Rabbit, made an appearance. The Musical Director needed more music to fill the time while the Pope spoke his special blessing. Tracy asked me to start the “Veni Creator Spiritus” right away. I played the introduction, the Inter-Cultural choir did their lovely setting of the chant with African drums and then - the Pope wasn’t finished. They still needed more music. The Music Director signaled me to continue as a solo. I began to riff on phrases of the ancient chant, carefully watching the conductor while he watched the Pope.”

“For a magical moment in time, the beautiful solo voice of our Native American Flute echoed through the hushed man-made canyon of the baseball stadium, floating out an ancient European hymn to accompany the Pope’s blessing, while tens of thousands from all over the world quietly joined their hearts together. How fitting that at this most sacred moment, the only sound in the stadium was the voice of a Great Spirit that had been here in this land long before the Pope’s Church and is still here. What an amazing gift I had received, to have the opportunity to honor my People in this way.”

Note: For the Papal Mass, Ron played on flutes made by Colyn Petersen and Jim Gilliland.
Learn more about Ron Warren and his music at http://www.ronwarrenmusic.com

The West Virginia Native American Flute Circle is participating in this summer's 2nd Annual Timber Flute Festival which will be June 22-27 in Elkins, WV. This event has grown a great deal in just a sort time and will this year feature five different flute traditions including Native American Flute taught by award winning musician Ron Warren. Dances and concerts every evening allow for sharing and gathering new music. Late June in the Appalachian Highlands is cool and green with bountiful opportunities for outdoor recreation. This will be a memorable week that you do not want to miss. Practice and study in your instrument of choice and learn a new flute this summer too!

Our flute circle will meet this month at RCCAC as usual Saturday, June 14 2008 from 1-3pm - Hope to see you there too.

Flute Festivals

I updated the link today. The 2008 Timber Flute Festival registeration and web site is up and running! Look at the event schedule and notice a concert or dance every evening. Five types of wooden flutes all sharing traditions and learning from one another. World reknown faculty members including our favorite Ron Warren teaching and performing Native American Flute. You do not want to miss this last week in June, a great time to be in Elkins.

Just a few weeks away (and this link has been busy a long time) Potomac Flute Festival is filling up fast but there are still spots available. Many of the performers at this event are presenting workshops as well and playing. Fifteen flute makers at the event make the legendary flute raffle a memorable experience too. Click to your right for details.

We will meet Saturday, February 9th at RCCAC in Elkins from 1-3pm and I hope to see you there.

Incentives

This month our meeting will have several highlights.

The Randolph County Community Arts Center will feature The Sixth Annual Gala Juried Exhibition including fifty, two and three-dimensional works by thirty West Virginia artists. This will be hung in the Great Hall and makes its debut with a First Class gathering on Friday night. Very nice event that I encourage you to attend. See RCCAC link on the right toolbar here.

The Circle has also been sent gifts from Robert Windpony at Grand Canyon Flutes. His music is from the heart and is performed on a number of flutes including those he has built. This month at the meeting we will have a drawing for the MoonRider CD, Robert's latests release. We'll see what folks think of his music and we send thanks for his generosity. You can see a large selection of NAF style flutes for sale at Grand Canyon Flutes website www.gcflutes.com

We hope to see several new flute designs as well. Paul has been working on a new SAC on his flutes and Allen has been working on a movable cutting/splitting edge. Gentlemen, bring those new flutes over please!

We will meet this Saturday - the Second Saturday in September (Sept 8) from 1-3pm at RCCAC. Hope to see you there.

June's New Flutes

New Flutes

Here are my two newest flute projects. The first one is in cedar in high B (bird is still pending). The wood actually used was salvage from Paul’s house siding. Thanks Paul! The other flute is done in “urban pine” or the PVC mentioned in a previous post (Am), Thanks Bob! While the cedar flute looks better I have to say that the Am plays better at this point thanks to Bob W. for the great formulary for finger hole placement and size. Tuning the really small flutes is a great challenge and this high B was no exception. The number 1 hole, closest to the mouth end, is very tender and easily overblown – throwing it out of tune. Besides that with the smaller bore size my finger holes proved to be tiny. More prototyping is clearly in order to get the results and my friend has been very accommodating in allowing me to tinker and try to figure it out.

This months meeting will show off these flutes and possibly others. I hope to have a few WV members that are interested in more flute-making help me assemble 12 of these Am flutes for sample flutes to be made available to the Timber Flute Festival participants. June 28, our lunchtime flute workshop will feature Stuart Hill and me getting other wood flute players feet wet with the NAF. To do this we’ll need Stuart’s great playing skills and my fearlessness before a crowd. We’ll also need a bunch of flutes in the same key for folks to try and Bob’s design is so good that I am going to try to show our members how to make them… Then try to teach Irish flute players to play them at month’s end. We’ll let you know how that goes.

The entire schedule for the Timber Flute Festival is now online and can be seen here (printable in PDF too):

http://www.randolpharts.org/flutefestival3.html

If you have not been to Stuart Hill’s web site his link is on your right. He is a very warm and approachable person who is very talented as a player and has spent years honing his skills. Check him out on line and come out to meet him June 28 when he presents in Elkins.

I encourage everyone to attend Timber Flute Festival and mix it up with the other wooden flute folks to see what else we can learn from them. Besides very interesting instruments and beautiful music the Irish, Baroque and Boehm Flute has something very important to offer NA style Flutes. A long and successful history of preservation and advancement of the wooden flute and advancement in technology applied to their instrument. IMHO, the NAF is in a type of renaissance and beginning to undergo the same levels of research, and innovation that will be required to further popularize it. All enthusiasts owe a great deal to First Nation peoples that brought the world this type of flute. We are also indebted to the generation of innovators who in the mid 20^th century brought this instrument back to attention and vibrancy when it had been nearly lost. Now in the early part of the 21^st century with so many flute-makers, professional musicians playing NA style Flute, and new enthusiast groups cropping up (present company included) the trick is to make sure we are not “playing in a vacuum”. Rather we need to take some energy from what we love about this musical tradition and learn from other traditions about what they know, share our tradition with them and incorporate successful elements of preservation from outside that will bring NAF to everyone who may need it, or need to hear it. Many folks already to this well and Timber Flute Festival will simply be another great chance to learn in this way. I’ll step off this box now.

Our next meeting will be in the great hall at RCCAC, the link to the arts center is on your right. Well be playing from 1-3pm Saturday June 9 – can I say WHEW, I am glad we missed the June holiday there! Mother’s Day was bad enough for attendance (GRIN)

Until next time -