Wow! That is amazing! I met a flutist from California online, over 10 years ago, which offered to give me lessons in jazz flute and baansuri. This was after I met Hariprasad Chaurasia's uncle during a series of Indian Music concerts at KU. (This series happened not long after I started reading about sound healing, interestingly enough. I also became very interested in how music was utilized in spiritual and religious traditions in my region. I've been invited to improvise on flute during Bhakti yoga kirtans and once at Sufi Camp, but it's not something I know much about because I'm not a devoted student of either tradition.) I will say that listening to Indian, Middle Eastern and Turkish music changed how I heard and perceived music ... (to the point that I had some difficulties the second time I took western music theory and ear training)!

P.S. I was influenced by Ray Thomas of the Moody Blues, as well, because my mom - although she'd played trombone in high school - was not a classically trained musician and loved her rock'n'roll!

I live in Kansas, the heartland of the USA! In school, I started playing violin and then viola in 5th grade (I was around 5 years old.), flute in 7th grade, and piccolo in high school. I started taking flute lessons in high school, which accelerated my skill and growth as a musician (from last chair in 12 to 3rd chair in 20, in less than 2 years). I also dabbled in other instruments, such as treble recorder, harmonica, organ and (player) piano. (I also played percussion in a community band the summer after I graduated from high school, because my jaws were wired shut.) I started writing poetry and short stories in grade school and then in earnest starting when I was 12. Since I started college, I've learned how to play percussion (orchestral and hand percussion, like djembe, darbuka and tambura), bass/alto flute, classical and electric guitar, tenor/soprano/baritone ukulele, penny and low whistles, recorders (sopranino, soprano, treble and alto), and ocarina (6-hole, 4-hole and 12-hole). I started composing music in 2011, after I decided to start learning about healing with sound. (Although Bridge of Waves was the catalyst, I read numerous other books from mystical, sound healing and western perspectives, including music therapy and the impact of music on the brain.) Eventually, the music that kept playing in my head switched to flute (from hand percussion), and I've been writing flute music ever since. In 2012, I started writing down and/or recording my original lyrics and melodies (using my phone, paper, etc.). After my folk-fusion band and a poetry book deal didn't work out in 2018, I started over in 2019 with recorders and ocarinas. I was invited to perform at a library fundraiser, which culminated in an improvised album on which I played a bird whistle, recorders, and ocarinas while my friend accompanied me on trap set. Later that year, I started composing a collection of ensemble pieces featuring 12-hole ocarinas. When quarantine (and COVID) prevented me from recording the album I'd written, I kept writing ocarina duets. In 2021, I went back to music school, hoping to earn a certificate in recording arts. I ended up with an AFA in Music, with classes in jazz (theory, literature and improvisation), world music and children's literature. I also engaged in a lot of song writing and created a collection of lead sheets for voice and ukulele. Unfortunately, my thumb (left hand) started to have issues, so I focused more on flute. During the course of my studies there, I took some independent studies that focused more on composing for flute. Long story a whole lot shorter, I've been working on a book of 1-page flute duets with a method I wrote (using what I learned from performance psychology, jazz and improv). I've also become a producer in the past 2 years, creating electronic remixes of my original flute duets - some with spoken word versions of the haiku I wrote to accompany the duets. (There is more, but I don't want to bore anybody!)