Sonic Escape features Maria Kaneko Millar (violin) and Shawn Wyckoff (flute), a pair of Juilliard graduates whose hyper-instrumentals, stories, moves and original works have landed them on hundreds of stages across 45 North American states & provinces. “Wonderfully imaginative… with a wide-ranging, anything-goes sense of fun.” (The Washington Post)

Our latest music-dance collaboration! Enjoy:

We are delighted to share with you our new concert program Bach to the Classics, a lively collection of classical masterpieces drawn from the best of orchestral, operatic, piano and tango music. Filmed at the Encore Theater in Silver Spring, MD.

Can a flute rap? Can beats & bass marry violin & flute? Check out our collaboration with dance battle champion Kosi Eze to see what you think:

Join us on Tuesday, January 17 @ 12 pm EST for the premiere. What is Seven Dreams? Picture Hans Zimmer having a dream about Indian dance, Japanese ceremony, Korean percussion and a flutist & violinist that love to break into dance:

Join Maria LIVE on YouTube from August 13 – 19, 2022 @ 1 pm EST as she discusses the 7 essential elements that will make your performances extraordinary! This free series will feature a talk each day followed by a premiere from Maria’s recent Celtic/Classical show with the Victoria Symphony conducted by Sean O’Loughlin.

We spent MANY hours in a forest – not a person in sight – taking turns filming, playing (and swatting mosquitoes) to bring you our latest creation. Canada Council for the Arts’ Digital Originals grant – an initiative spurred by the pandemic to help artists, arts groups, and organizations pivot their work for online sharing – enabled us to purchase the equipment we used to film this (and also livestream). We are so grateful.

Check out Maria’s virtuosic rendition of tango La Cumparsita, now available in Sonic Escape‘s sheet music store! Also available for purchase is Sakura, which was recently published in a first-run printing of 12,400 copies for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and is currently sold in 90+ countries. Maria is the only living composer featured in the publication!

We LOVE hearing from people who play our compositions!  Since we started offering our sheet music a couple of years ago, we’ve sold hundreds of copies in 46 countries – Azerbaijan to Malta, South Africa to Japan.  Check out our store to see if there’s a piece for you!

We often get asked, “How often do you practise,” to which Maria answers, “I don’t.”  In Maria’s new entry for her series, Play Harder, she explains why…

We’ve experienced a lot of winter storms on the East Coast of late and, rather than grumble about it, decided to pack our skis, flute & camera and head to Vermont!  A few tips:

1. Downhill speed ≠ getting a sound
2. Stick to the top octave (preferably with one hand to get in some dance moves)
3. Below freezing temperatures might get you stuck to your flute
4. Stop playing and throw the flute if you’re going to crash!

Hope you enjoy the video 🙂