Local music veteran, world flute master, and Grammy nominee Peter Phippen continues to garner accolades for his many projects. Most recent: a Nammy nomination.

Ask Peter Phippen about playing the flute and he’d likely respond, “It plays me. There are good days and there are bad days, but I play the mood it will allow me; there are no givens.” Peter’s relationship to his music is as deep as it gets. He describes it as a living thing. From the flute itself to the sound it makes, they have a soul that can only be attained through the moment.

And right now, Peter is having quite the moment. Already recognized as an international sensation, he earlier this year enjoyed the increased visibility of a Grammy nomination, his third Nammy nomination (Native American Music Awards), and now he’s released a brand new album, Lavender Calm.

The record is a collaborative release with Arja Kastinen, which combines the living sounds of Peter’s flute enriched with the beauty of Arja’s kantele, a stringed instrument of the Karelian and Finnish peoples. In the same way that Peter has immersed himself in the world of flutes and their rich history, Arja has done so with the kantele, learning its intimate secrets and compiling an extensive collection of them along the way. “We share a unique interest for our instruments,” shares Peter. 

Peter confesses that he has not always been the flutist he is today. His musical roots start 1,106 miles east in New York, where he grew up. His instrument of choice was bass, which he played in a band comprised of friends from school. In fact, Peter and the flute met accidentally in a furniture store (World Bizarre) in 1987 while couch shopping with his wife, Julie. 

“It was a bamboo penny whistle that cost 25 cents,” Peter recalls. “There was a whole basket full of them in the store, so I played every one until I found the one that was mine.”

Flutes are delicate instruments that can possess a wide range of unique personalities, and Peter plays ones as old as the 17th Century and as far away as India. As he opens one of three cases of carefully packed flutes, the first one he chooses to play is a Lakota, colorful and noticeably old. He delicately places his lips over the top opening and blows deeply. Its sound is natural and environmental, like a wind blowing through the trees. The next flute he plays is from the 19th Century and it looks simple, but there is no simplicity to its sound. He holds it off to the side of his mouth and blows a steady stream into it. It begins to cry.

As Peter plays several other flutes from his collection, words like shy, precious, obnoxious, ugly, macho, and witty come to mind. His flutes are unique in that no two recreate the sound of the last. After hearing Peter play, no one can doubt his aptitude. When asked about it he reveals, “You can only be yourself, seclusion breeds art, so play!”

Every Wednesday night, Peter plays at Shanghai Bistro performing unscripted spur-of-the-moment music. Future local shows include the Mabel Tainter Theater on February 3 and May 13, and with Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra on February 18. 

Lavender Calm is Phippen’s seventh album, in addition to four nature-based instrumentals, seven compilations, and more than a dozen projects with other musicians. Find eight of these albums at The Local Store, and more information at PeterPhippen.com.