BIO: Ann Licater/World Flutist Award-Winning Recording Artist, Producer and Composer

Ann Licater's passion for the inspirational and healing music of the Native American flute was ignited at a powwow where she heard the beautiful call of a flute being played. Being an accomplished silver flutist herself, Ann followed that call to a booth where she purchased the first of many Native American and World flutes heard in her recordings Beyond the Waves (releasing April 8, 2016), Invitation from Within, Doorway to a Dream and Following the Call.

On those albums, as in her healing concerts, Ann’s unique approach merges her intuition, spiritual perspective and traditional music background to create beautiful original melodies and inspired improvisational compositions. Her love of wood and clay flutes led her to study with master flutist R. Carlos Nakai at the Renaissance of the Native American Flute, complementing her years of classical flute training at the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, MN.

Beyond the Waves, Licater’s fourth album is an artfully-recorded collection of contemporary instrumental compositions co-produced by Licater, Dan Ferguson, Ivar Lunde, Jr. and Peter Phippen. The music featuring Licater on lead flute with guest artists on guitar, bass, piano and more, has a fresh and pristine sound (a hallmark in her recordings) with influences of new age, jazz and world music. The CD’s back cover notes state the music is like a "traveling meditation” that's perfect for relaxation, rejuvenation and inner reflection. Like her last three albums, Beyond the Waves focuses on the lifestyle/spa genre but this time, the compositions are even more layered and dimensional offering a complexity that is an expansion for this artist who is already recognized for her signature sound. Licater loves to create music that takes listeners on an inner-journey.

Several of the special guests on Beyond the Waves are GRAMMY®-nominated or GRAMMY®-winning artists, arrangers or producers. Their talents are part of Licater’s expanded vision that crosses over from New Age to Contemporary Instrumental and beyond and include: recording and performing artist veteran Dan Ferguson (Sonny & Cher, Seals & Croft, Joan Baez), violinist Scarlet Rivera (Bob Dylan, Tracy Chapman, Indigo Girls), bassist/shakuhachi Peter Phippen (AirKraft), percussionist David DiLullo (Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra) vocalist Arnaé Batson (India.Arie, Ben Vereen), synth programmer, DJ Bander (Hollywood Music in Media Award winner for “Best Original New Electronica Artist”) Ivar Lunde Jr. (Conductor Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra) and vocalist Arielle (opened for Heart, Joan Jett, and Graham Nash at Kiss the Sky in 2014--a concert raising awareness for captive whales and dolphins.)

Invitation from Within, released Oct 1, 2013 is Ann's third album and her second time working with GRAMMY®-nominee Peter Phippen in a co-producer role. The album was nominated for three 2014 ZMR Lifestyle Music Awards: Best Relaxation/Meditation Album; Best Native American Album and Best Instrumental Acoustic Album. Angels on the Wind, the first track on that album, was nominated for a 2014 Hollywood Music in Media Award in the Best New Age/Ambient Song category and is in rotation on XM Sirius Spa Channel.

Doorway to a Dream, Ann’s second album, was chosen by Amazon as Best Music of 2010 in the Top Ten Best New Age Albums category, and was also Best Native American Album Winner and Best Relaxation/Meditation Album Finalist for the Zone Music Reporter Music Awards; her track “Into the Heart,” from this same album, was nominated for an Independent Music Award as Best New Age Song. Doorway to a Dream presents both solo and collaborative tracks featuring Native American, world and silver alto flutes. Following the Call released in 2007 and was nominated “Best Native American Album” by radio programmers for the New Age Reporter (NAR) Lifestyle Music Awards. It quickly became the #1-selling music CD at East West Bookstore, one of the largest body/mind/spirit bookstore in the U.S.

Licater’s music is featured on the nationally-syndicated radio show Hearts of Space, Sirius XM Satellite Radio, Soundscapes, a Music Choice cable radio channel, Pandora and Spotify. It is also featured in-flight entertainment for Cathay Pacific Airline, Virgin Airlines and Air Canada under the music category “Well-Being.”

Licater enjoys performing in spiritual venues of all faiths such as Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, CA and Mission Santa Clara – one of the oldest missions in the U.S. – where she was a special guest artist of the San Jose Chamber Orchestra and The Choral Project. Licater has graced the global stage at musical events such as the World Flute Fest at Carnegie Hall, the Awakened World Conference in Rome and Florence, Italy and at “Sound Body, Sound Mind” Specialty Week at Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico one of the top spas in Latin America in the Travel + Leisure annual “World’s Best Awards.” Licater loves performing in nature as well. She has played her flute on The Pacific Crest Trail in Lake Tahoe, CA for the Art Hike and World Concert sponsored by Trails and Vistas. Licater holds a B.A. from University of St. Thomas, and an M.L.A. in Creation Spirituality from Naropa University. She resides in both the San Francisco Bay area and in Los Angeles, California. Licater’s albums, workshops and performances are booked through her Cul de Sac Mystic Productions. Please visit www.culdesacmystic.com

Photo of Ann Licater, by D’Arcy Allison-Teasley