Big Sky Alive! presents Sound Reflections Trio

Big Sky Alive! is taking the Sound Reflections Trio on the road to Bigfork Friday, March 6, The concert begins at 7 p.m. at Community United Methodist Church, at 750 Electric Ave.

The concert will celebrate winter and the coming of spring through peaceful and meditative music performed on Native American-style flutes and crystal singing bowls accompanied by piano and percussion instruments.

Three Flathead Valley musicians make up the trio. David Webb, owner of Dakota Windsong Flutes, will perform on his personally crafted Native American-style flutes. Though Webb has no Native American heritage he felt compelled by the haunting sounds of the flutes to follow a path and journey into this unique and spiritual art, learning his craft by corresponding with some of the best Native American flute makers in the U.S.

“It calms the soul,” Webb said. “It’s rare to have someone who makes flutes and plays his own instruments. I’m one of a handful.” He adds that Native American flutes are said to be the third oldest musical instruments in the world, preceded only by drums and bone rattles.

Joining him onstage will be Mary McGrath of Glacier Sound Healing Center in Columbia Falls, playing a variety of crystal bowls. She has over 25 years’ experience as a music teacher and choir director in public schools. Fifteen years ago she began working with sound as a healing modality and opened her center in Columbia Falls. She holds the equivalent of a master’s degree in sound healing and works both privately and with groups offering a wide variety of sound frequencies, vibration and music for healing.

“The bowls are magical,” McGrath said. “They take you to a profoundly deep state where your body mind soul can do its work of healing.”

Big Sky Alive! board chair and Music Director, Craig Thomas Naylor, completes the musical trio. Naylor holds a Doctorate in Music Composition from the University of Southern California and has an impressive resume as a composer, a conductor and a performer. He founded the nonprofit group in 2012 as a vehicle to add more contemporary musical offerings by living composers to the valley. Naylor will be adding some minimalist piano, often playing inside on the strings like a harp, adding various ceremonial drums and metallic percussion.

Admission is a free-will donation and items of non-perishable food for the Flathead Food Bank. For more information about the concert, call 406-250-8867.