His music is composed and inspired on location, from the vast northern plains of the Dakotas to the SW canyon lands and his home, the NW coast by his beloved shores of the Pacific. "We hear the land", states Gary, in his expressions of haunting yet reflective tone poems from the sounds of various American Indian wood flutes to Chinese bamboo flutes; clay bird calls and clay flutes.

His foundation for his work always starts with a story of song to bring to life the music you will hear during the evening presentation. The origin of the song is very important in bringing life to his music. Says Gary, "It becomes more than just solo flute music inspired by our natural world. It is part of one's personal life and the human interest of the journey or music to live by".

Gary Stroutsos performs world flute music that celebrates traditional cultures and their reverence for the earth.  Performing on Native American and Chinese flutes, his repertoire is deeply respectful of ethnic cultures and the spirit of place found around the globe.  Influenced by jazz, Afro-Cuban and Native American styles, his performances of original compositions and traditional music weave delicate melodies into a global landscape with improvisation, world percussion and the sounds of nature.

Gary’s work was showcased in the Ken Burns PBS documentary Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery, which led to a command performance for President Bill Clinton at the White House.  Gary has made a distinctive contribution through his commitment to the preservation of Native American music and culture.  In 2002, he and Paul Thompson recorded a Native American solo flute album on location inside Canyon de Chelly.  This album includes various traditional love songs and chants of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Zuni, and Lakota which you will hear performed at this concert.

"We couldn't imagine the White House evening without you and your remarkable music."
- Ken Burns, Documentary Filmmaker, Lewis & Clark

Echoes of Canyon De Chelly
Gary's new CD - with special guest Paul Thompson
 

Gary Stroutsos

Born in Barre, Vermont of Greek-Italian descent, since 1994 Gary has produced and recorded over ten albums and has been featured throughout the world on the NPR (National Public Radio) syndicated radio program Echoes with John Diliberto and Skitch Henderson's New York Evening at the Pops. His music has also been featured on the Ken Burns PBS documentary Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery, which led to a command performance at the White House for President Bill Clinton in 1997. Gary has also recorded or performed with Susan Osborn, Joseph Fire Crow, Annie Humphrey, John Serrie, R. Carlos Nakai, Karen Therese, N. Scott Robinson, Glen Velez, Jovino Santos Neto, David Lanz, and on 2 CDs for the Echoes Living Room Concert series. Having recorded as a leader and produced over 10 CDs on the Makoché, Narada, Red Feather, and Paras labels, Gary's work is internationally distributed and widely reviewed.

With backgrounds in American jazz, Afro-Cuban, and Native American musics, Stroutsos continues to create contemporary flute music that involves aspects of meditation, nature, improvisation, and traditional cultures. Stroutsos is strongly respectful of ethnic cultures and music traditions but often finds himself blending disparate traditions in expressing his own voice. Native American flutes and Afro-Cuban chants, jazz and the Chinese flute xiao, and meditative improvisation on bamboo & alto flutes inspired by the work of jazz greats Tony Scott, Paul Horn, Yusef Lateef, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Eric Dolphy, and Herbie Mann are just a part of the Stroutsos soundscape.

Gary was first influenced to pick up a flute after seeing Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull and then Peter Gabriel of Genesis while earning a degree in sociology at Grand Valley State College in Michigan in the early 1970s. He later went on to study privately with jazz flutist/composer James Newton, and Afro-Cuban & classical flutist Professor Danilo Lozano. His Native American music studies have centered on his relationship with Navajo flute maker/historian Paul Thompson. As a result of his multi-faceted background, Gary has a unique and distinct voice that has furthered the Native American flute beyond what all others can do with the instrument.

This ongoing discovery of world flute music and its mysteries of sound are closely linked to nature and Mother Earth. He has performed extensively throughout the United States and Canada. His passion for creating original compositions is inspired by directly experiencing the extraordinary diversity and beauty of nature and people encountered during his travels. Gary performs in concert either in a solo lecture/performance, in duo with either Elizabeth Falconer on koto or N. Scott Robinson on world percussion, and with the trio Hidden World featuring John Serrie on keyboards and N. Scott Robinson on world percussion. Gary's music weaves delicate melodies into a global landscape with sophisticated improvisation, world percussion, and the sounds of nature. Gary conducts master classes with special guest Paul Thompson, Navajo flute maker and Indian music educator in a program called Winds of Honor, which features techniques for playing the Native American flute. He also lectures and demonstrates the Native American flute as part of a presentation on Lewis & Clark.

Gary Stroutsos has been credited with helping preserve the real traditional and exquisite songs of the indigenous Native American culture, a path he is committed to in mind and spirit. His CDs Distant Shores, Winds of Honor, and The Native Heart have received national acclaim as benchmark recordings of Native American flute music. His 1999 recording People of the Willows reflects his ability to synthesize native traditions and contemporary music influences with a deeper aesthetic than others who use the Native American flute outside of its cultural context. Also in 1999, Gary's sensitive and eloquent playing was featured on the CD The Elders Speak with Native American storytellers Mary Louise Defender Wilson and Francis Cree, which not only displays his understanding of the cultural topic but also the muse and spirit of the poetic context he accompanies. Most recently, Gary has teamed up with the acclaimed synthesist and creator of space music, John Serrie. Their work has resulted in 2 extraordinary CDs, Hidden World and Pacific Moon, which were Critic’s Choices in Billboard CD reviews. Gary's credits as an executive producer include Cuba L.A. (which sold over 70,000 copies for the Narada label), and 2 compilations of contemporary Native American flute music I am Walking: New Native Music and Under One Sky: Native American Flute & Rhythm. Gary was also involved in the 1997 acclaimed Ken Burns documentary Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (released on DVD/Video and soundtrack CD) and the 1998 CD Lewis & Clark: Sounds of Discovery.

Gary describes his music as embodying his "most personal musical vision in creating meditational soundscapes that are distinctly my own yet distill a variety of my favorite influences. My passion and vision is making music inspired by the nature and the land. I like to bring a variety of cultural references into what I play, continuing my outgoing exploration and discovery of the wealth of flute traditions and the mysteries of their sounds. For me, it's all about the exciting process of bringing music to life and connecting with people."