- Flute Quest
Flute Quest is the
Pacific Northwest 's premiere festival celebrating theNative American flute . It takes place annually in Bothell,Washington and for the last two years has been held at the [http://www.countryvillagebothell.com Country Village] in Bothell. It is a 3-day festival that features performers, workshops, vendors, and musical jam sessions related to the playing and making of the Native American flute, Native American culture, and other indigenous instruments.Origins of Flute Quest
Flute Quest was first conceived by Brent Haines of Woodsounds Flutes late in 2004 [ Ramirez, Marc (
September 15 ,2006 ). [http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20060915&slug=flutequest15 "Lure of the Native American flute"] . "Seattle Times". Retrieved onAugust 17 ,2008 .] . At the time, Woodsounds Flutes was located in Bothell, and Brent felt that the Pacific Northwest needed its own festival similar to Musical Echoes in Florida or the Potomac Flute Festival in Virginia. Initial legwork on the project revealed to the organizers that timing was too tight to produce a festival for summer of 2005, so the first Flute Quest happened in 2006 at St. Edward State Park in nearby Kenmore.Flute Quest initially garnered start-up support in the form of a public grant from [http://www.4culture.org/ 4Culture] , the cultural outreach arm of
King County . With generous public and private supporters, Flute Quest started off with a bang. In their first year they hosted many national and internationalNative American flute performing artists, including [http://www.mirabal.com Robert Mirabal] and [http://www.maryyoungblood.com/main.asp Mary Youngblood] .Flute Quest today
Today, Flute Quest has evolved into a somewhat more regionally-centered music festival, showcasing and celebrating the talents and creativity of Native American flute artists in the Pacific Northwest United States. All of the headline performers in the 2008 festival, for instance, are from Washington and Oregon, and include
Jan Michael Looking Wolf , aKalapuya native recently nominated for Best Flute CD of the Year by the ISMA 2008 music awards, and [http://www.garystroutsos.com/ Gary Stroutsos] , a Seattle resident who played a command performance in the White House by invitation of President Bill Clinton.The 2008 festival will feature more community-participation events, including flute circles, drum circles, didgeridoo circles, and combined jam sessions in which everyone is invited to participate. For anyone without an instrument, flutes, drums, and other rhythm instruments will be available to play during the public sessions.
References
External Links
[http://www.flutequest.com Flute Quest official website]
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