Darren Thompson is a renowned Native American musician and contributor to PowWows.com!

Darren Thompson is an educator, public speaker, facilitator, and Native American flute player from the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Indian Reservation in Northern Wisconsin.  He has spent most of his adult life serving communities through leadership development, American Indian cultural awareness workshops, and the arts.

His career as an American Indian musician began with a burning curiosity of a nearly lost instrument – the Native American flute – while an undergraduate at Marquette University. Within a short time he became a sought-after concert musician who shared both traditional American Indian flute songs as well as his original compositions at colleges and universities throughout the United States. He has shared the stage with many award-winning musicians, artists, and talents giving him the inspiration to thrive as an artist.

His dedication to the preservation of American Indian music has taken him to some of North America’s most prominent American Indian organizations and events, including the Grand Opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the National Indian Education Association, the National Congress of American Indians, the North American Indigenous Games, America’s largest American Indian cultural festival, many universities, organizations, communities, and has recently began to share his talents internationally.

In 2009 Darren released his debut album, “The Song of Flower: Native American Songs from Ojibwe Country,” with Bear Tracks Digital Media, an American Indian owned production label. “The Song of Flower” was highly supported by well-known political prisoner and activist Leonard Peltier and Darren was invited to share his music all over the United States promoting for Peltier’s freedom and performing at his art galleries. He hosts an annual Native American flute retreat in his community, the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Reservation, with select flutemakers and renowned fluteplayers teaching eager learners about the instrument from all over the world.

In 2015, Darren released his second album “Between Earth and Sky: Native American Flute Music Recorded in the Black Hills,” with Drumhop Productions, an American Indian production label well-known in Indian Country that produces the annual Gathering of Nations Powwow CD and many others from throughout Turtle Island. Early in its release, Between Earth and Sky has received acclaim from media and professionals supporting the album’s intent – to preserve history. From the album’s success, Darren was awarded an artist-in-residence opportunity with the world’s largest monument, the Crazy Horse National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

As a result of his successful residence at Crazy Horse Memorial, Darren was selected to be a regular performer in the summer months at Crazy Horse giving him the opportunity to continue to share his music with hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world. 

Read more: http://www.powwows.com/2016/07/06/interview-darren-thompson-pow-wow-life-episode-6/#ixzz4HE4i58fB