Finger Lakes Flute Circle Meeting 13 February 2014

The next meeting of the Finger Lakes Flute Circle is Thursday, 13 February 2014, 6:30 p.m., at the Brookside School (Brighton Parks & Recreation), 1680 S Winton Rd, Rochester, NY 14618. Alternatively, the official listed address, 220 Idlewood Road, will take you to the other, neighborhood side of the building. Note that this is an early date this month (otherwise mostly the third Thursday).

We will be playing the Native American flute, together and individually (and other world flutes if you have any). Bring your flutes and hand percussion.

Beginners are welcome! We will have beginner Native American flutes to try. Most of our members have come to the group with little or no experience with the flute, and before they know it, they are playing beautiful music from the heart.

A $5 contribution is requested for room rental and Meetup fees.

We will make great music together, and have a wonderful time enjoying each other's music. We look forward to seeing you there!

The most current meeting schedule is listed on the Blog and Meetup websites:
http://wnyflutecircle.blogspot.com
http://www.meetup.com/FingerLakesFluteCircle/

RSVP

Early Bird Registration for Potomac Native American Flute Festival 2014

The deadline for early bird registration for the Potomac Native American Flute Festival is fast approaching. The March 14-16, 2014 festival is themed "Winds of Remembrance," and celebrates ten prior years of festivals with stellar performers, workshops, vendor hall, and open mic.

$130 Early Bird registration postmarked through February 15, 2014.

$155 for registrations postmarked as of February 16, 2014.

(Youth pricing ages 7-21: $80 Early Bird; $95 after February 15, 2014)

Otherwise, there are options for one-day registration, and if not attending the rest of the festival, separate tickets for Friday Open Mic, Saturday afternoon concerts, and Saturday evening concert.

For further information: http://www.potomacflutefestival.org

Registration information: http://www.potomacflutefestival.org/?page=registration

Finger Lakes Flute Circle Meeting 16 January 2014

The first meeting of the year for the Finger Lakes Flute Circle is Thursday, 16 January 2014, 6:30 p.m., at the Brookside School (Brighton Parks & Recreation), 1680 S Winton Rd, Rochester, NY 14618. Alternatively, the official listed address, 220 Idlewood Road, will take you to the other, neighborhood side of the building.

We will be playing the Native American flute (and sometimes have fun with other world flutes as well). Bring your flutes and hand percussion.

Beginners are welcome! We will have beginner Native American flutes to try. Most of our members have come to the group with little or no experience with the flute, and before they know it, they are playing beautiful music from the heart.

A $5 contribution is requested for room rental and Meetup fees.

We will make great music together, and have a wonderful time enjoying each other's music. We look forward to seeing you there!

The most current meeting schedule is listed on the Blog and Meetup websites:
http://wnyflutecircle.blogspot.com
http://www.meetup.com/FingerLakesFluteCircle/

RSVP

What key are most of the flutes?

One of the members of the Finger Lakes Flute Circle asked me an excellent question through our Meetup website, "What key are most of the flutes?"

The key we use the vast majority of the time at the Finger Lakes Flute Circle is a mid A minor. By everyone having a flute in the same key, we are readily able to play along with each other. The mid A minor and G minor are the most popularly purchased keys from makers; pretty much everyone that's a fan of Native American flutes will have an A. The mid A minor well accommodates the finger flexibility of most beginners and the finger hole reach for most sizes of hands. The beginner flutes that we have available for use, Northern Spirit flutes in A minor, are economical, durable, and sound very nice!

That being said, you can get Native American flutes in all kinds of keys, mid range, high, bass, and sub-bass (note that there is not a standardized terminology for pitch ranges)! The next most popular key might be the mid F# minor, which is thought to be close to many "grandfather tuned" body measurement proportioned traditionally constructed flutes. Many folks love the grounding, soothing tones of the bass and sub-bass flutes. The lower the flute, however, the more challenging to reach to wider spaced finger holes, and the greater the demands on breath control.

Some people develop the terrible affliction of flute collecting. There are so many special flutes, different keys, different woods, different makers. For some, it's a malady for whom there is no cure, except for exhaustion of funds or the wrath of one's spouse.

Here is a link to an astounding flute key reference on the fabulous www.flutopedia.com by Clint Goss (I count sound samples in thirty keys): http://www.flutopedia.com/keys.htm

Potomac Native American Flute Festival 10th Anniversary - March 2014

The 10th Anniversary Potomac Native American Flute Festival this March 2014 is shaping up to be an amazing one!

The lineup of performers is awesome and outstanding! I've enjoyed all of their music, and have had either private lessons or workshops with Cornell Kinderknecht, Mark Holland, Suzanne Teng, and Arvel Bird. Through Scott August's blog, I got my initial practical information delving into the Native American flute years ago. He had visited Washington just before I began my journey with the Native flute, and I've not yet had the pleasure of meeting him, so I'm very much looking forward to seeing him at the Potomac Native American Flute Festival this year!

My family and I made frame drums with Shelly and Randy Stenzel at their workshop at the festival two years ago, a wonderful experience on many levels.

A festival update is below:

POTOMAC NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTE FESTIVAL 10th ANNIVERSARY  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next Potomac Flute Festival will be held March 14, 15, 16 at the Rockville, MD Unitarian Universalist Church and the Best Western Hotel. The theme is "Winds of Remembrance". We will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Potomac Flute Festival by bringing back performers from several past festivals. 

Our fabulous program includes:

PERFORMERS

Friday     7:30PM:  Open Mic at the Hotel
Saturday 1:00PM: Cornell Kinderknecht 

  3:30PM: Mark Holland 

  7:00PM: Suzanne Teng & Gilbert Levy,  

  Scott August, & Arvel Bird

WORKSHOPS

 Introductory & Advanced flute workshops all weekend
Special make-your-own drum workshop Friday afternoon
(separate advance registration/fee required)

VENDORS  

Flute, jewelry and drum vendors all weekend (Free access!) 

For full weekend registration or individual event tickets visit:  

www.potomacflutefestival.org

Finger Lakes Flute Circle Meeting WEDNESDAY 18 December 2013

The last Finger Lakes Flute Circle meeting of 2013 is this WEDNESDAY, December 18, 6:30 p.m. at the Brookside School (Brighton Parks & Recreation), 1680 S Winton Rd, Rochester, NY 14618. Alternatively, the official listed address, 220 Idlewood Road, will take you to the other side of the building.

Please note that the Wednesday meeting is a day earlier than had been previously announced.

Beginners are welcome! Beginner flutes will be available to try.

We will have a great time playing the Native American flute, drums, rattles, and hand percussion, and enjoying each other's music. A $5 contribution is requested for room rental costs and fees.

We will make great music together. We look forward to seeing you there!

The most current meeting schedule is listed on the Blog and Meetup websites:
http://wnyflutecircle.blogspot.com
http://www.meetup.com/Finger-Lakes-Native-American-Flute-Circle/

RSVP

Buy a CD and help send Mary Youngblood to the World Flute Convention!

Below is a message passed along from a music associate of Mary Youngblood. By the way, the 2014 World Flute Society Convention is shaping up to be a phenomenal one!--JS

Greetings Flute Circle leaders:

I would like to announce the CD release of LOPUS ONE. 

This is the composite effort of some of Mary Youngblood's best students from LOPING WOLF Flute n' Drum plus two songs from Mary Youngblood. On this CD Mary performs an awesome new arrangement of "Cold Wind" plus a wonderful rendition of "Amazing Grace".  It also showcases the performance and composition talent of some of LOPING WOLF's best.  

To hear a few sound samples and buy a physical CD go to: www.twodogsstudios.com      For all sound samples and downloads, go to  CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lopusone    (Downloads are also available on iTunes and Amazon.)

  

Buy a CD and help send Mary Youngblood to the World Flute Convention!

My studio, www.twodogsstudios.com will be a sponsor of Mary Youngblood, helping the World Flute Society pay for her airfare and lodging.  50% of all profits from sale of the CD, LOPUS ONE, directly from my website, during the months of December and January, will be added to my sponsorship.  So, you get a great music CD and help Mary perform at one of the premier Flute events in the world.

Thank you and please pass this e-mail on to your membership!

warm regards,

Rick Aeschliman

www.twodogsstudios.com

Nevada City, CA