Flute Flight plays for women in need

WASILLA -- Flute Flight, a quartet of young women who have been playing together for the past year and a half, held a charity concert Sunday evening at the First Presbyterian Church in Wasilla. The proceeds from the concert, where the group played classical, Irish, Jazz and popular flute music, will benefit Women for Women International, a charity organization committed to helping women sustain themselves and their families in war-torn countries such as Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

"It's a neat way to get people to help themselves and control their futures; it's not just a handout," said Flute Flight member Lindsey Miller about Women for Women.

Miller, Katie Dillbeck, Kara Van Dongen and Caitlin Hammaker make up Flute Flight. Their instructor, Markus Bishko of The Aurora Academy and The Music Studios of Markus Bishko, suggested the teens play to raise funds for Women for Women.

"There are different levels of charity; the highest level of charity is to help someone help themselves, and that's exactly what Women for Women International does," Bishko said.

Flute Flight's members are all high-school-age students; Van Dongen recently graduated from Colony High School. Aurora Academy will have its student recital Friday, but because Hammaker will be leaving for a French camp before the concert, the women decided to hold their own concert in order to play together before the summer frenzy begins. Zahara James, a pianist from Anchorage, also played at Sunday's concert, and Bishko sampled different types of flutes from around the world for the audience to hear.

"I think the flute, more than any other instrument, is associated with nature," explained Bishko after playing a haunting tune on a New Zealand flute made from a sheep's bone.

"The flute was also an instrument of war, before walkie talkies, the fife (a shrill American flute) was used as signals on the battlefield," Bishko said.

Bishko played flutes made of bamboo and rosewood, and ended his exhibition of flutes with a song played with native American flute.

"This instrument is enjoying a huge renaissance. Not only have a lot of people been playing them, a lot of people have been making them," Bishko said.

Flute Flight has played for the Wasilla Rotary, at the Anchorage Folk Festival, and at Valley Bistro. The Aurora Academy student concert is Friday at the First Presbyterian Church. The public is welcome to attend but there will be a fee, Bishko said.

Contact Jen Ransom at jen.ransom@frontiersman.com