Celebrating the Musical and Cultural Expressions of the World's Indigenous and Folk Flute Traditions
2026 Convention Performers
Renée Blanche
Mistress of Ceremonies
The voice heard on KCUR on Sunday nights belongs to Renée Blanche, a native of Detroit, Michigan. She stumbled into radio after ending her military career in El Paso, Texas. Her skills as a volunteer announcer were honed at community radio station KXCR during a three-year stay. Commercial radio was the next stop as a weekend announcer for adult contemporary stations K-LITE and B-94 FM. Renée moved to Kansas City in 1993 and was hired as the midday announcer for KCUR and as a traffic reporter for Metro Traffic Control. Her role as host of the Night Tides program began in September 1994.
Rodrigo Rodríguez
Featured Evening Performer
Classroom Presenter
Rodrigo Rodríguez is a Spanish shakuhachi master, composer, and recording artist, widely recognized as one of the foremost students of the legendary Kohachiro Miyata. Under Miyata’s direct guidance in Japan, Rodrigo developed a profound mastery of both classical honkyoku and contemporary shakuhachi repertoire, fully embracing the spiritual and musical traditions passed down through his teacher’s lineage.
Over the past two decades, Rodrigo has toured extensively across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, performing at prestigious venues and cultural festivals, captivating audiences with his refined tone, meditative style, and deeply expressive playing.
In parallel with his traditional studies, Rodrigo has built a strong solo career, exploring new sonic landscapes and blending the shakuhachi with genres such as classical, ambient, and electronic music. His discography reflects a personal artistic vision that transcends cultural boundaries, establishing him as a leading figure in the global evolution of the shakuhachi.
Offering Private Shakuhachi Lessons During the Convention.
Classroom Presentation: Blowing Zen: The Art of Shakuhachi – Tradition, Technique, and Repertoire
Listen: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmRPECd9Yig
Listen: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6jZOBJp9ZE
Dr. QingLun Tan
Featured Evening Performer
Dr. QingLun Tan is an NAC scholarship recipient, as well as an award-winning traditional flute artist, producer, and educator. He is the first Singaporean to receive a Ph.D. in Dizi Performance from the China Conservatory of Music.
Being a leading figure in flute culture within the ASEAN region, Dr. QingLun has explored diverse ethnic flute traditions globally. As the producer and director of key festivals, he brought together world-renowned flute musicians, industry experts, and local artists to launch landmark events such as the Singapore Dizi Festival in 2015, the ASEAN-Korea Flute Festival in 2017, and the Traditional Flute Festival in 2018.
Dr. QingLun’s passion for cross-cultural music inspired him to co-found yIN Harmony, a multicultural fusion band, with his mentor, Dr. Ghanavenothan Retnam, to honor local music and culture. The band has gained official recognition and has represented Singapore in performances worldwide. His commitment to promoting multiculturalism also led him to establish the Impressions of Nanyang Arts Association alongside leaders from various ethnic communities. The association seeks to promote Nanyang music in Singapore, while championing diversity and inclusion. Dr. QingLun envisions a future where the younger generation embraces and preserves Singapore's rich musical heritage through Nanyang music.
Currently, Dr. QingLun serves as the Artistic Director of Reverberance Ltd., a council member of the Singapore Chinese Music Federation, and the Secretary of the Singapore Dizi Society. An avid educator, he teaches at the Singapore Raffles Music College.
Dr. QingLun aspires to use music to build bonds across cultures and continuously strives to deepen his knowledge and inspire the next generation through his discoveries.
Classroom Presentation: ""The Chinese Dizi: A Journey Through History, Craft, and Singapore’s Diverse Music Culture"
Offering Private Lessons During the Convention
Ron Korb
Featured Evening Performer
Ron Korb is a renowned Japanese-Canadian flutist, composer, and producer, who is celebrated for his exceptional virtuosity and rich blend of global musical influences. A two-time Grammy® Award nominee, he holds the distinction of being the first Japanese-Canadian to receive a Grammy® nomination. His Japanese heritage traces back 43 generations to Fujiwara no Kamatari, a prominent historical figure born in 614 AD.
Ron has developed a distinctive global musical persona, fluidly blending Pan-Asian, jazz, Celtic, and Latin influences, acquired through a lifetime of exploration. His latest release, Global Canvas, marks his 30th album and offers a fresh perspective on a wide range of genres, including Japanese, Korean, and Cambodian music, as well as Afro-Cuban rhythms, Brazilian samba, and Bossa Nova grooves. Ron holds seven Grammy® certificates, including four for winning albums. Among them are his contributions to Divine Tides, the Grammy®-winning album by Stewart Copeland of The Police, and Sakura, which won Best Global Music Album by Masa Takumi. Ron has toured in North America, Europe, Central America, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, India, Thailand, Vietnam, and Mainland China.
Ron has also shared stages with Peter Gabriel, Olivia Newton John, Cesaria Evora, The Yardbirds, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Liona Boyd, Ricky Kej and Dadawa. He has performed for many heads of state including Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Takamado of Japan, Princess Bophadevi of Cambodia, Two Canadian Prime Ministers, and was featured on a presentation for the UNnited Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Ron Korb has performed on many motion pictures including 3D IMAX film Space Station narrated by Tom Cruise and Beautiful Planet narrated by Jennifer Lawrence. Other credits include Being Julia and Merchant/Ivory’s The White Countess starring Ralph Fiennes, Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave, and an Emmy-winning episode of World Without End by Mychael Danna, a Golden Globe and Academy
Award-winning composer.
Classroom Presentation: “Bringing Your Music to Life: How to Prepare for Performances, Videos, and Albums”
Cadenza Duo
Featured Evening Performers
Formed by bamboo flutist Hsiao-Feng Lin and harpsichordist-pianist Hsuan Chang Kitano, Cadenza Duo explores Taiwan’s musical landscape through "A Resonant Island," a program that traces the island’s folk traditions, from Indigenous songs to melodies inspired by its mountains, winds, and sea shores.
The performance features a range of bamboo flutes, including the Northern and Southern dizi, rooted in Chinese musical culture, and the nose flute of Taiwan’s Paiwan and other Indigenous tribes, all handcrafted by the Lin family. In dialogue and collaboration with harpsichord or piano, these instruments weave a shimmering soundscape that celebrates the living voice of Taiwan’s musical heritage.
Through performances, commissions, and cross-cultural collaborations, Cadenza Duo bridges historical performance practice and contemporary interpretation, inviting audiences into an immersive encounter with Taiwan’s evolving sound world.
Suzanne Teng and Gilbert Levy
Featured Evening Performers
Suzanne Teng has been described by the Los Angeles Times as a “brilliant flutist” who “plays music for the soul.” Originally from Berkeley, California, she received her M.Mus from Boston University’s School for the Arts and completed the coursework for the Ph.D. in
ethnomusicology at UCLA, where her focus was on music and healing. Suzanne is an internationally known performer on an array of global flutes, is a renown music educator, served on the National Endowment for the Arts Music Education panel for three years, and is an endorsed YAMAHA Performing Artist.
Recognized in the recording industry for her skillful and creative playing, Suzanne can be heard on hundreds of recordings on Polygram, Warner Brothers, Windham Hill, BMG, Shanachi, Sounds True, and Scottie Brothers. She played on commercial soundtracks for Kleenex, Pepsi, Dodge, Johnnie Walker. Suzanne played on video game soundtracks for Myst and Prince of Persia, as well as film and television soundtracks for Tumble Leaf (PBS), Machu Pichu (Netflix), Miss Spider, Babar and the Adventures of Badou, Boston Legal, Murder, She Wrote, and “300.” She has appeared on national television, including performances on several of CBS’s Survivor Finale shows.
Suzanne and her husband/music partner Gilbert Levy - a New Orleans born drummer who has performed with jazz greats Wynton and Branford Marsalis - perform internationally and have released seven critically acclaimed albums that have received numerous awards including the Independent Music Awards, International Acoustic Music Awards, Los Angeles Music Awards, New Mexico Music Awards, Native American Style Flute Awards (Album of the Year), Global Music Awards (Gold Medal), Peace Song Awards, InterContinental Music Awards, and the World Flute Society Awards.
Suzanne's and Gilbert's music has been licensed for hundreds of films, television, and commercial and video productions. Their music was also featured on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. Committed to creating healing music, they were commissioned to create a CD for Genentech that was distributed to more than 50,000 cancer patients to aid in their recovery.
Suzanne will be selling custom-made Indonesian suling bamboo flutes during the convention.
Offering Private Lessons During the Convention.
Classroom Presentation: "Meet My Family of World Flutes"
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@suzannetengmysticjourney5607
Laura MacKenzie
Featured Evening Performer
Laura MacKenzie performs music from Scotland, Ireland, England, France, Galicia, Sweden, and Minnesota on an array of traditional wind-powered instruments (and voice), including many wooden flutes and whistles. Before turning to her current career as a performer, producer, and teacher, Laura’s academic training was in music performance, anthropology, ethnomusicology, and folklore. She has learned from noted tradition-bearers on both sides of the Atlantic and has herself been recognized as a master folk artist.
Laura has received numerous honors and performing arts awards for her participation and dedication in this realm of music, including an Archibald Bush Foundation Fellowship in Traditional and Ethnic Performing Arts and two McKnight Foundation Artists Fellowships. She was also selected for the original NEA sponsored “Cherish the Ladies” series, which featured noted women in Irish music in America. Enjoying a richly varied career grounded in traditional music, Laura has performed and recorded with diverse ensembles, worked with theatrical productions, and for public radio, and has performed at festivals across the United States. She can be heard on a multitude of recordings and on several documentaries.
Peter Phippen
Featured Evening Perfomer
Over the past three decades and 25 albums, Peter Phippen’s experiential, natural folk style revealed a penchant for creative and artistic sonic improvisation. He has researched the history and performance technique of traditional flutes from around the world and throughout time. Phippen was the first non-Native American flutist signed to Canyon Records, which released his classic 2003 album, Night Song. Phippen is a
Grammy®Award nominee, International Acoustic Music Award nominee, multiple Native American Music Awards nominee, and a 2021 Native American-Style Flute Awards Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Phippen is a Projekt Records recording artist specializing in traditional flutes from around the world.
Offering Private Lessons During the Convention.
Watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaSZiIwRyFA
Joshua Daby
Joshua Daby has more than 35 years of musical experience, specializing in African and Caribbean hand drumming, a passion he has pursued since the age of sixteen. His musical journey has taken him across the globe, spending meaningful time in Haiti, the West Indies, and Ghana, West Africa, where he immersed himself in the rhythms and traditions of the regions. While in Ghana, Josh had the privilege of studying with Ghanaian master drummer Justice Williams Ni Adjiri (aka Shikome), an experience that deeply shaped his unique and soulful approach to percussion.
His dynamic performances have earned praise worldwide:
Throughout his career, Josh’s talents have led him to share the stage with a host of remarkable artists, including master conguero Giovanni Hidalgo, Grammy-nominated flutist Peter Phippen, and gospel hip-hop pioneer Michael Peace. Beyond performing, Josh is dedicated to passing on his love of rhythm and culture through hands-on lessons and interactive workshops. When he is not performing, teaching, or recording, he runs a side business repairing African drums, ensuring that the instruments, and the traditions behind them, continue to resonate for generations to come.
Joshua Daby will be performing with Peter Phippen.
Offering Private Lessons During the Convention.
Bryan Akipa
Featured Evening Performer
Bryan Akipa grew up on the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Reservation of northeastern South Dakota. He is an Army veteran, elementary teacher, flute maker, and champion traditional dancer.
In 1975, a passion ignited in Bryan Akipa to become a self-taught traditional flute maker and traditional flute player. At the time, there were too few artisans hand carving traditional red cedar flutes and playing traditional
flute music. His spirit of inquiry and enthusiasm for traditional flute playing compelled him to dedicate himself to the art form. Subsequently, Bryan began a life journey with the Indigenous traditional red cedar flute, and he has come to master one of the most fundamental traditions of the Dakota people.
A humble artist, Bryan Akipa prefers that his art and music speak more for him. He envisions a flute performance based on the traditional scale, “Tokeya Inajin,” and matches a number of flutes to each individual song.
Classroom Presentation: TBA
Hovia Edwards
Featured Evening Performer
Hovia Edwards is from the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, Fort Hall, Idaho. She is the daughter of Herman Edwards and Nancy Nacki. Her paternal heritage is of the Okanagan-Similkameen band of Keremeos, British Columbia, Canada. Her maternal heritage is of the Shoshone tribe of Fort Hall, Idaho, and the Navajo Nation of Red Mesa, Arizona. Hovia has a natural talent for music, especially the Native American flute. Some people ask how her name came to be. The word “Hovia” (Who-vee-ah) is the Shoshone word for “song” or” music.”Hovia’s songs consist of her own compositions, as well as traditional songs that she enjoys playing for people that have special meaning to her and to others.
Hovia was honored to represent the Goshute Tribe of Utah in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, as a flutist in the opening ceremonies. It was an awesome event always to be remembered by everyone who was there, and those who watched it on television around the world.
Hovia’s most recent project consists of working with the Opera Theater of Oregon on a new opera, Nu Na-Hup: Sacajawea’s Story, which tells the story of Sacajawea through an Indigenous perspective. On May 13-14, 2023, there was a premier of the Prelude and a 35-minute scene of this work, alongside excerpts of orchestral music, opera singing, soundscapes, and presentations of traditional Shoshone music, language, and culture by Hovia and Rose Ann Abrahamson. Hovia was honored to be part of this exciting project.
Jonny Lipford
Featured Evening Performer
Jonny Lipford, a celebrated musician with more than 15 years of experience, has made significant contributions to the music industry with his expertise in the Native American-style flute. As a performer, he has captivated audiences as large as 14,000 people. As a recording artist, Jonny boasts numerous albums and awards. His passion for music and education continues to inspire the global flute community.
Jonny also leads the Horizons Flute School, an online learning platform that provides comprehensive flute education to more than a thousand students globally. The school offers courses, workshops, memberships, and lessons catering to all levels of flute proficiency.
Jonny Lipford will be vending during the Convention.
Classroom Presentation: TBA
www.jonnylipfordmusic.com
La Familia Faulkner-Valiente
Featured Evening Performers
Rick Faulkner and Jessica Valiente began performing with their three children as a family pastime, and as a way to bring them along to their own performances. As the children grew and excelled, their roles in their parents’ ensembles and their own family ensemble expanded.
As grown professionals, the three Faulkner-Valiente siblings are highly skilled, multi-genre, multi-
instrumentalists, each in their own rite. Today, in between their individual professional engagements, the Faulkner Valiente family gives performances of classical, world, and historically-informed music throughout the United States. They have performed at conferences, at colleges and universities, in concert halls, and pubs and restaurants, playing everything from Mozart to mambo, and from baroque chamber music to Brazilian choro.
La Families Faulkner-Valiente include Rick Faulkner, Dr. Jessica Valiente, Miguel Faulkner, Analisa Falknet-Valiente, and Daphne Faulkner-Valiente.
Dr. Michael Prairie
Afternoon Concert Series
Before flute making came along, Mike Prairie served as an officer in the United States Air Force, mostly in the technology development field. Along the way, he earned a Ph.D. to qualify him for the last couple of assignments before he retired from active duty. He transitioned to industry where he worked as a contractor for customers that included an Army lab. That lab sent him on frequent field tests at Eglin Air Force Base near Fort Walton Beach, Florida, which is the home of Musical Echoes.
Mike Prairie built his first flute from a kit he bought from Butch Hall at Musical Echoes in 2001, and that launched his journey into studying and making flutes. He learned the basics of flute making from the old NativeFluteWoodWorking Yahoo! Group. After a few flutes, Mike discovered that the second-register notes were out of tune. As a practicing engineer, he set out to solve that problem, as engineers tend to do, and soon found himself immersed in the technical literature of acoustics. He quickly learned that these flutes worked just like the electrical transmission lines that he studied in graduate school, except voltage and current at the speed of light were replaced by pressure and flow at the speed of sound. Combining the love of flute music, woodworking, and engineering, Mike started building experimental flutes and dove deeply into the technical aspects of flute acoustics, sharing what he learned with anyone who was interested.
In 2008, Mike stopped in at his alma mater to buy a new t-shirt and to visit one of his old professors. While there, he learned that the Engineering Department was looking for a new faculty member. Mike could not pass up the opportunity, and he found himself on the faculty of Norwich University that fall. This allowed him to continue some of his academic flute research as part of his day job, even involving some students in a few projects.
Mike’s focus on flute making outside of the technical research has shifted in recent years to some of the more traditional style of flutes. With so many excellent craftsmen making great modern flutes, he sees a need to support the movement back to more traditional styles that seems to be slowly gaining momentum.
Michael Prairie will be vending during the convention.
Russ Jones
Afternoon Concert Series
Russ Jones is a Utah-based flutist, originally from the mountains of California. His musical journey began with a spiritual trip to Mexico, where he purchased his first flute in 2011. As a self-taught flutist, Russ first developed a connection with a Native American-style flute, before expanding his arsenal to include flutes from around the world. His first solo album was recorded in 2014, after which Russ began to perform at house concerts, New Age festivals, and work as a studio musician for film scores. His flute collection includes historical Native American flutes, as well as world flutes like the shakuhachi and the kaval. Russ has just released a new album, Starlite, in July, 2023
In 2024, Russ became a voting member of The Recording Academy - The Grammy Awards. Recently, Russ has been hand-carving flutes in his shop. In July 2025, Russ assisted Bryan Akipa in a flute-making workshop at Sitting-Bull College on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. The goal of the workshop was to cultivate a new generation of flute makers and musicians who will carry these traditions forward into their families, classrooms, and communities.
Russ Jones will be vending at the convention.
www.russjonesnativeflute.com/home
James Tong
Afternoon Concert Seriees
As a child growing up in his native Japan, James Tong listened to the traditional Japanese bamboo flute, the shakuhachi. In the 1990s, he heard the equally evocative sound of Native American flute music being played in a shop in Bisbee, Arizona.
James began his flute journey by constructing his first flutes from PVC pipe with which he taught himself to play. His breakthrough in playing came after attending various flute
schools and through the encouragement and support of the various concert/workshop performers, teachers, and the players of the Tucson flute community.
James Tong's first formal introduction to the shakuhachi was in the early 1990s from Todd Barton of
Ashland, Oregon. Under Barton's tutelage, he learned to blow Ro! Since his introduction to the shakuhachi, James would tell you he made a lot of noise with the instrument, but not much music!
Presently, James studies shakuhachi and the traditional music of the ancient Komuso monks with Nick Hoko Bellando, Myoan Ryu, and Kinpu Ryu, as well as withShawn Taiyru Head, Kinko-
Ryu. James is also a member of the Empty Bamboo Shakuhachi in Tucson, Arizona, a study and
performance group for the shakuhachi as both a traditional music and as a meditative discipline. He
also has been inspired and tutored by Paul Amiel and Alcvin Ryuzen Ramos. James also
improvises with the shakuhachi and is strongly influenced by his Native American-style flute
experience.
Ryan Meisel
Afternoon Concert Series
Ryan Meisel is a world flute artist, master jazz musician, and dedicated educator whose work blends the inspirations of nature with the spirit of Indigenous culture. For more than 22 years, he has shared his passion for music as a teacher to students of all ages, while cultivating his artistry as a performer on the traditional Native American and world flutes for the past decade.
Ryan’s interest in world music was sparked in 2015 while studying at Vandercook College of Music in Chicago, where he explored ways to incorporate global traditions into his elementary school classroom.
That curiosity grew into a lifelong journey of discovery. Inspired by the sonic possibilities of the Native American flute, Ryan expanded his artistry to include instruments such as the East Indian bansuri, Lithuanian skudučiai, Slovakian fujara, Peruvian panpipes, and Irish and Scottish low whistles. Always a student himself, Ryan is committed to studying the rich Indigenous cultures of the Americas, through both scholarly research and meaningful connections with Indigenous communities.
In 2016, Ryan was honored with the prestigious Herb Kohl Fellowship, which sponsored his debut recording Spiritual Currents (2017). Since then, he has released three additional albums: Can You Hear It: Circles and Soundscapes (2019), a fusion of world drum circles and melodic exploration; Wandering Spirit (2023), a combination of creative sound, nature, and respect for indigenous culture; and Stone Songs, Wooden Voices, & Water Dances, an evocative celebration of the landscapes, waterways, and beauty of America’s national and state parks.
Through performance, recording, and teaching, Ryan seeks to create music that connects listeners to the earth, honors cultural traditions, and inspires spiritual reflection. He strives to bring an educational element to his performances, ensuring that audiences leave with not only an experience of sound but also of cultural understanding.
www.meiselmusic.net
Marlon Magdalena
Afternoon Concert Series
Marlon Magdalena is a tribal member of the Pueblo of Jemez, a federally-recognized tribe in New Mexico where he grew up and currently resides. He is an artist, educator, and performer of Native American flutes. Flute and song making is his art. He shares his art with the flutes that he makes and through his performances. Art has been a significant part of his life. Marlon draws and paints, but currently specializes in making several types of flutes found in North America. He is also the Instructional Coordinator at the Jemez Historic Site. He educates the public about Jemez culture through numerous presentations and demonstrations that he gives throughout the year.
Cornell Kinderknecht
Afternoon Concert Series
Cornell Kinderknecht is an award-winning recording artist and performer on flutes and other wind instruments from around the world, including Native American-style flute, bansuri, ocarina, recorder, and bamboo flutes. His music has reached audiences internationally, with appearances ranging from the stage of Carnegie Hall to festivals and retreats across the United State and abroad. His recordings have charted on Billboard and received numerous awards. Cornell's music has been featured in film, advertising, and a nationally-aired television series. In addition to his solo work, Cornell has collaborated on many other artists’ recordings across genres, bringing his distinctive sound to a wide variety of projects.
Cornell is also a dedicated teacher and community leader. He directs the Pacific Northwest Flute Gathering on Vashon Island, the longest-running residential retreat focused on the Native American-style flute, and he is the founder of the Winter Flute Gathering Online. Cornell has been on the teaching staff of the Zion Canyon Native Flute School and serves as Music Director of the Dallas Recorder Society. His "Creating Songs" online series has become a popular resource, inspiring flute players to explore composition and creativity.With a light-hearted and supportive approach, Cornell encourages musicians at every level to discover and develop their unique musical voice.
Offering Private Lessons During the Convention.
Classroom Presentation: TBA
Rhythm & Breeze
Afternoon Concert Series
Rhythm & Breeze is a world music duo partnership of flutist Sandi Horton and percussionist Debbie Brock. The two musicians met decades ago after graduating with Bachelor of Music degrees. They were also band directors and performed in various professional classical and jazz groups. Later ,they taught college level music in addition to teaching high school private lessons.
Horton and Brock have traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Mexico, learning music from each culture. They also continue playing in various music ensembles.
In 2023, Horton and Brock discovered a common interest in performing their original music as a duo. Both have retired from previous music careers, and now seeking to share their love of world music as a duo in performances wherever they go. Their repertoire spans calm and soothing music of the Native American-style flute to exciting and adventuresome music of the suling, an Indonesian flute. An element of improvisation is heard in every performance. Music from different centuries and countries influence their original songs.
www.facebook.com/rhythm.and.breeze
Earthsong Voyage
Afternoon Concert Series
Earthsong Voyage is a world music duo based in Atlanta, Georgia, featuring Native American-style flute player Jamie Empert and world percussionist Joe Empert. Jamie plays a variety of world flutes, but her true passion lies in the voice of the Native American-style flute. Joe is a versatile percussionist who enjoys exploring instruments and rhythms from around the world
and weaving them into the duo’s music. Together, Jamie and Joe perform at events and venues across Atlanta and throughout the United States.
Jamie and Joe describe their music and philosophy: “Music has a remarkable ability to transport us on a profound journey through our minds and emotions, carrying us to places we have been and places about we have only dreamt. The beauty of music lies not only in its sound, but in the transformative voyage it offers to our souls.”
