Native American Flute Making Class with Aaron White (Northern Ute/Dine)

Saturday, April 20: 10:00 am to 2:30 pm

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River Cane Flutes have been in use by Native American Tribes in The Southwest for thousands of years. The plant (Phragmites), which is a common Reed, that grows in a low and high desert region/riverbeds/canyon areas and, as such, was where the earlier inhabitants such as Ancestral Puebloan, Sinagua, Fremont, who were the Cliff Dweller people, our Ancestors. They developed these Reed Whistle sounding instruments as a means of survival and as time went on it evolved into a instrument that was used for Ceremony and Social Gatherings.

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Aaron has developed a program that gives an individual or group an experience of making the instrument in a two-hour program using modern tools, as well as teaching basic flute techniques, and sharing the cultural and historical significance of the River Cane Flute. The materials for the class are gathered from around the Verde Valley area.

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Biography: Aaron White (Northern Ute/Diné) is a Grammy Nominated, Award Winning Guitarist, Singer/Songwriter/Native American Flutist and Flute Maker, and Lecturer on the Culture, History, and Musical Properties of the Native American Flute. In 1991, Aaron formed the groundbreaking group Burning Sky. They combined Native American flute with acoustic guitar, drums and pioneered a sound that earned them a 2003 Grammy Nomination for Best Native American Album for “Spirits in the Wind” and a 2004 Native American Music Award for Group of the Year as well as his first solo Flute recording “Moon Light Love Songs” that received Best Flute Recording from The Native American Music Awards for 2022. For 30 plus years, Aaron has been one of Arizona’s busiest Indigenous Musicians, performing guitar and flute in concert, at many venues, museums, major events and private corporations. He has been a regular performer for many years at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass Resort on The Gila River Reservation in Chandler, AZ and venues in Northern AZ. Aaron has performed with John Densmore (The Doors), Jackson Browne, Taj Mahal, Bruce Cockburn, Jesse Valenzuela of The Gin Blossoms, Loli Vega (Red Bone), Buffy Saint Marie. He worked on soundtracks with Barry Goldberg, the Paul Butterfield Band, Electric Flag/Mike Bloomfield, Bob Dylan, Greg Leisz, Slide Player K.D Lang, and Jackson Browne. He opened for Taj Mahal, Jackson Browne, Dave Koz and many more notable musicians.

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Aaron’s Flute/Guitar Music is used on many soundtracks of award-winning films such as 2023 release of "Lakota Nation vs United States,” which opened in Theaters in the summer 2023. The Doe Boy" (NHK Award Sundance Film Festival), “Sud Funk, Life of the Navajo” (ARD Germany), “Life of the Navajo” (NHK Productions Japan), and “Two Spirits” (PBS), “True Whispers – Navajo Code Talkers,”(PBS)and “Secret of the Lizard Woman(ABC), Grand Canyon National Parks (PSA’s). Aaron is an accomplished Native American Flute Maker. His Flutes are part of the collection of The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) and are on display at the MIM in Phoenix, where Aaron has performed many times.

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Aaron White has been an artist-in-residence at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Crazy Horse Memorial Custer in South Dakota, Southwest Museum University of Arizona, and the Musical Instrument Museum.  Aaron believes music is medicine that can heal and mend the spirit of all people around the world, “All of us carry the gift of music in our heart and soul. May we always share these gifts with Gratitude and Warming Hearts.”

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Appropriate for: K-12 students, adults and Seniors.

All materials are included in the $35 class fee.

Click HERE to register. Limited to 20 participants.