It started with Walt Disney’s Fantasia — that scene where a glamorous lady plays Waltz of the Flowers on a gold harp. Young Shana was smitten. Grownup Shana studied with Julia Herrmann Edwards (Dallas Symphony Orchestra) and with Eileen Malone at the Eastman School of Music. She is principal harpist with Mid-Texas Symphony and with the Symphony of the Hills. Shana is a member of the Western Swing band Dim7, performs with Oliver Rajamani’s Flamenco India project, and is the harp playing half of Chaski.

With its eclectic, genre-bending virtuosity,  Chaski reinvents the sound of a classical flute/harp duo. Adrienne Inglis (flutes) and Shana Norton (harps) performed their first concert together in April 1985, in Kerrville, Texas. Since then, they have performed across miles and miles of Texas, from sea to shining sea, and occasionally in places that require a passport.

Chaski has honed a distinctive style that fuses their roots in classical music with a whole world of flute/harp traditions. Their concerts showcase an eye-popping array of instruments and a colorful mix of musical styles. You might hear a Bolivian huayño played on panpipes, a Scottish strathspey featuring penny whistles, the premier performance of a newly commissioned work, or a spoken-word piece that flows seamlessly into its musical counterpart.

Now approaching their 40th anniversary season,  Chaski’s shares programs from their time-tested repertoire, from newly written music, and from their own fresh settings of traditional tunes. The duo’s engaging musicality connects with audiences young and old, in venues from concert halls to coffee shops.

Passionately striving to connect people to nature through music, Adrienne Inglis serves as founder, composer, and singer with Inversion Ensemble of Austin, Texas. As an award-winning Latina composer, her music has enjoyed performances in North and South America, Europe, and Australia and reflects her strong environmental mission and love of birds. She also frequently draws on her Ojibwe, Venezuelan, and Scottish ancestral roots, with many of her pieces in Spanish and Native American languages. She plays principal flute with the Central Texas Philharmonic and the flute/harp duo Chaski and has music degrees from Lewis and Clark College and the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in the rural hill country of Central Texas, inspired by the natural beauty to listen, learn, and create music that cherishes wild places.