The Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra brought one of the finest concerts in their history to Ardrey auditorium Tuesday night. Principal Conductor Randall Craig Fleischer has been promising a collaboration with pop musicians for some years now and with the Hawk Project concert, has delivered a performance worthy of Tanglewood or Wolf Trap. The Hawk Project rocked. The five-member band is primarily from the Hudson Valley of New York, which inspires their native based music. It must be a beautiful and special place. Ken Little Hawk is the Renaissance man of the group, composing, singing and playing a range of instruments. Their music was mesmerizing, and struck me as transcendent, taking the listener to their soul's depth.

The FSO played with the Hawk Project based on arrangements by Maestro Fleischer, which were rich and complex. His arrangements included selections from Stravinsky which contrasted sharply in the traditional "Encouragement Song" of Native peoples. The lighting added to the drama of the evening, as the backdrop was lit in changing colors and shadows, reflecting the moods of the works. The FSO played the opening movement of Dvorak's "New World" Symphony featuring the flute of Hawk Project member Dennis Yerry, a Iroquois composer. It was full of pathos and irony, with the lilting Native flute showing the contrast of the "new" world and the one occupied for millennia before white men arrived on American shores.