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!!! Overwhelming Response To First New York Open Center Workshop Leads NYOC Officials To Schedule Second Workshop !!!

NIGHTDANCERS TO PRESENT SECOND WORKSHOP AT NEW YORK OPEN CENTER

Contemporary Native American Flute Music Duo NightDancers Set to Present their Second “Learn To Play Native American Flute – For Healing and Inner Peace” Workshop at the New York Open Center. The Workshop is a weekly course scheduled to run 4 consecutive sessions, Tuesdays, May 27 - June 17, (5/27, 6/03, 6/10 & 6/17), 8:00pm – 10:00pm. Cost of the workshop is $120 for Open Center Members and $130 for non-members. Note: A high-quality $65 cedar flute will be available for $35 for registrants who pre-order one week before the class. There will be a Free Introductory Class on Tuesday, May 20, at 8:00pm. For workshop information, contact the New York Open Center directly at 212-219-2527.
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MONTANA CROSSINGS - the debut studio recording from New York city based composer/flautists Gera Clark and John Sarantos is a well-crafted, melodic gem of an album featuring themes of exploration, transformation, interconnection and grace.  Recorded at the world-famous AVATAR Studios in NYC by Jim Anderson, with mastering by Fred Kervorkian, CLARK and SARANTOS assembled a team which successfully captured the essence of NightDancers’ vision.  MONTANA CROSSINGS contains 15 instrumental tracks featuring twenty-five flutes representing eleven flute makers from coast-to-coast.  No overdubbing or sound samplers were used on the recording.  10% of the sales of the physical cd will be used to buy flutes for Butch Hall Flutes for Cancer Patients.

GENRE:  Native - New Age - World
FORMAT:  Instrumental - Public Radio - Variety - World
MUSIC STYLE:  Contemporary Native American Flute
STREET DATE:  May 29, 2007
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“. . . NIGHTDANCERS have put together an unusual collection of music that is rarely heard . . . and have recaptured that soothing and mystical art and preserved it for eternity.”
John Tenting - World Voice News

“I really liked your music and would love to have you at Kenny’s.”
Maria Kenny/Owner - the legendary Kenny’s Castaways NYC

“. . . Jethro Tull, eat your heart out — there’s a new flute-toting band in town.”
Ben Johnson - Staten Island Advance Weekly Entertainment

“. . . This CD is an extraordinary collection of smooth and beautiful melodies . . . Night Dancers Gera Clark and John Sarantos have created a wondrous gift of Native American flute music rarely heard played so beautifully.”
Jesse Ramos - Official Publication of the International Native American Flute Association
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“TAKING CONTEMPORARY NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTE MUSIC TO A NEW HIGH!” - NightDancers

CLARK and SARANTOS, known collectively as NightDancers, enjoy sharing intrumental flute music with a unique style that takes listeners on a musical journey . . . painting sound pictures with original contemporary Native American flute songs - successfully capturing the soothing, mystical and healing qualities which are the heart and soul of Native American flute music.

NightDancers - in their own words . . .

GERA CLARK:  I grew up in a house full of music with my mother Muriel playing beautiful music on the piano and me trying to do the same. During this time my Aunt Ursula had tales of adventures and pictures of places out West from her trips. When I hit the age of travel, I exchanged my playing piano for a more portable instrument, a nickel silver-plated flute.

After many adventures and misadventures, I one day found myself about a hundred miles west of New York, standing outside a Tibetan Buddhist Temple, when suddenly I heard the most beautiful sound. Following the powerful, yet haunting sound, I found it emanating from a Native American flute, played by Ed Callshim (Ponca Sioux). After this experience, I finally found a flute of my own at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York.

Later, when traveling to Niagara Falls with my teacher Amy Lee (Iroquois), a deep desire to connect with my earlier travels in the Southwest was awakened. On one particular journey, I found myself retracing my steps of meeting a koshari many years ago and spending time exploring the canyons along the Rio Grande. Eventually I was led to the mountains and the Taos Pueblo, where I heard that haunting sound drifting through the air, and followed it to its source, a little adobe. Looking inside, I met a kind and talented gentleman, who encouraged me to play the native flute. That gentleman, unbeknownst to me at the time, is one of the finest Native American flute players, John Rainer Jr. (Taos/Creek). Leaving New Mexico with renewed faith, I was led, via The American Indian Community House in New York, to Franc Menusan (Muskogee Creek), who became my extremely patient mentor for several years.

On my birthday, I flew out to an R. Carlos Nakai (Navajo/Ute) concert with the San Francisco Symphony, where I learned about the Renaissance of the Native American Flute (RNAF) workshop in Montana. I came back to New York and booked myself a flight to Montana, which was where I met John Sarantos, and our musical partnership was born.

JOHN SARANTOS:  All my life I wanted to be a musician. Even after my junior high drum instructor told me I had no rhythm and quit teaching me. Even after being inspired by a Jethro Tull concert only to be dropped by my silver flute instructor on the grounds of being tone deaf - a verdict reinforced by several singing instructors. I still did not give up my dream. I just gave up dreaming for a while.

When I was 45, my mother Demetra introduced me to Native American flute music. The next day, synchronicity struck when my friend Nick Stamas introduced me to the flute music of Coyote Oldman.

Synchronicity struck again in 1996 when I heard Peter Kater and R. Carlos Nakai in concert in Chicago where I learned about Renaissance of the Native American Flute (RNAF) in Montana. After gaining more information on the upcoming workshop by spending an hour on the phone with Penny Light, I turned down a free two week tour to Japan and found myself inside a tipi at RNAF. I have been attending RNAF for over ten years, first as a participant, then as a facilitator. It was there that I met my first two flute teachers, Ken Light and R. Carlos Nakai. My dreams were re-awakened.

Next, my flute journey led me to Eugene, Oregon where I met my flute mentor Charles Littleleaf (Warm Springs), who has shared many sacred places, wisdom, stories, laughter, and friendship with me.

I have been fortunate in my life to have shared my knowledge of the flute with over 1,000 people from coast-to-coast, in a variety of workshops, thanks to the encouragement and support of folks like Bill Tucker, Bob and June Picard, Susanne (Suz) Tarhay, Peg and David Hernandey, and Wayne McClesky.

At RNAF in 2005, I was fortunate to meet and play flutes with Gera Clark. Through the encouragement of Gera’s friend, Bob Hegler, we continued jamming together, often via speakerphones 1,000 miles apart. A year later we formed NightDancers.

Instrumentation
Gera Clark:  Composer/Flautist
John Sarantos:  Composer/Flautist

Discography
MONTANA CROSSINGS (2007)
NightDancers Music/BMI
837101342872
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PUBLICITY - PROMOTION - MARKETING:

W. Kelly Milionis
President, CEO & Artist Manager
Shoestring® Entertainment Corporation
511 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 354
New York, NY  10011
646-413-8687
www.shoestringentertainment.com
ceo@shoestringentertainment.com
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NIGHTDANCERS MUSIC
511 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 343
New York, NY  10011

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