Recently hailed as one of the most memorable live performers of 2015 by the San Francisco Examiner, the award-winning Aeon Flutes is an ensemble dedicated...

Recently hailed as one of the most memorable live performers of 2015 by the San Francisco Examiner, the award-winning Aeon Flutes is an ensemble dedicated to the presentation of new music in a unique way. Now in their twelfth year, the core trio of Jill Heinke, Kassey Plaha and Sasha Launer make use of the entire flute family (including the “regular” C flute, piccolo, alto flute, bass flute, ocarina, slide whistle, and beyond), providing a fusion of sounds that can be at times soothing, melancholy, joyfully vibrant, or when used in a less traditional manner overtly dissonant, puzzling, fractured and otherworldly. Their Innova debut, Thrive, features living composers Elainie Lillios, Cornelius Boots, and Mike Sempert. Lillios was Areon’s 2014 International Composition Competition winner, and her “Summer Sketches” depicts the sonic landscape of the world of insects through extended techniques on the flute family. “Cthonic Suite” (Boots) takes the listener on a three-movement journey to the underworld with reflective, joyful and rocking moments. “Uncanny Valley” (Sempert) offers a glimpse into a future world of artificial intelligence and the struggle between synthetic and organic minds. Both of these works were commissions from Areon.