Press Quotes
“a fine balance of virtuosity and poetry”
— the new york times
“[Lukas] excels at bringing drama and fire to hyper-modernist works with challenging extended techniques... we consistently enjoy her sensitive, emotive, virtuosic approach”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
“a buoyancy of spirit that comes out in the flute, a just beautiful sound”
— The Boston Globe
“Known for her especially pure tone, flexible technique, and passionate performances”
— Artslandia
“Lukas’s playing in the lower register was electrifying – lightning-quick scale runs that ended on long, lonely notes way down at the bottom. Ambient and evocative… Lukas’s rapid shifting between registers featured dazzling stop-and-go arpeggios… all was perfect.”
— Oregon ArtsWatch reviewing Chamber Music Northwest concert, July 2023
“As a piece of performance art, Lukas delivered an intense, strenuous, and thought-provoking performance of Anahita Abbasi’s No, I am not roaming aimlessly. According to the program notes, Abbasi’s piece is based on “Dialogical Self Theory and Sufism” in which a blurring of the “internal and external self” is fused with Sufism’s quest for selflessness. You might think that such concepts would cause a musical mess, but Abbasi actually accomplished this fusion in this piece, thanks to the gifted talent of Lukas. Alternating between a variety of tricky extended techniques from the flute – including numerous piercing tones – and spoken text, No, I am not roaming aimlessly gradually generated a whirling effect that became – well – sort of timeless – or out of time – and very emotional. Lukas really captured the essence of the piece, and that resonated with the audience, which responded enthusiastically.”
— Oregon ArtsWatch reviewing Fear No Music concert, March 2024
“one of Portland’s finest flutists”
— The Oregonian
“Even Mozart would have called that Lukas flute 'magic.’”
— Pacifica Tribune
“one of Fear No Music’s most potent secret weapons and a new music impresario in her own right… A friend of mine compared Lukas’ playing to a shredding metal guitarist, which sounds awesome–and after hearing it myself I have to agree.”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
“an amazing concert, featuring the flute in ways that you may not have experienced it before - all played with Amelia’s usual virtuosity!”
— Classical Currents
“You might hear microtones when Lukas explores unorthodox techniques such as flutter tonguing and lip pizzicatos. Such unusual sounds are in Lukas’ wheelhouse.”
— The Oregonian
"after hearing what Lukas can do with the bass flute, I discovered I had been not only ignorant of some talented composers writing for it, but also completely unaware of what a radically versatile and charismatic instrument it is in the hands of someone like Lukas, an imaginative flutist with some serious chops... she used techniques I couldn’t begin to understand, which was marvelous."
— Oregon ArtsWatch reviewing Fear No Music concert, September 2023
“Amelia Lukas played the bass flute to render a soulful and solitary 'snowy egret, january messenger,' impressively fashioning raspy tones and to give the impression of the bird flying away at the end of the piece. Lukas returned with her concert flute to produce a bold 'Island of the Spirit.’”
— Oregon ArtsWatch on "Wildfires and Waterways" album release concert, May 2022
"Lukas gave an arresting performance of Claude Debussy’s Syrinx... [which] has an almost timeless, primitive sound as if to become one with nature – all of which Lukas channeled perfectly”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
“conveyed a lot of improvisation and jazz-like elements for flute… Lukas excelled with some tremendous licks”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
Praise for Amelia’s Solo Show, Natural Homeland
“a diverse and gorgeous array of music”
— Cascadia Daily News on 3/26/22 performance at Orcas Center
“This is a reflective, restorative and important program that draws expansive connections around ideas of shelter, belonging, and freedom, all offered through Lukas’ riveting performance… The scope of extended techniques and global palette of sounds featured in these works is stunning, and rarely heard on the concert stage.”
— The Islands’ Sounder on 3/26/22 performance at Orcas Center
“Once again, Lukas builds community when she performs… [she] remained front and center throughout the show—an ever-gracious, modest new-music champion and polished instrumentalist. She was the central and magnetic force: She can manage anything technically complex or acrobatically challenging with the flute and keep the music and people around her in motion."
“[a] virtuoso flutist”
Additional Feature Articles
“Crucial to the success of For Christian Wolff is the stamina and long-term vision of the performers. Lukas and DeMaison never once let up their focus or weakened in energy. With their intricate understanding, they crystallized each detail yet maintained a steady momentum; their sense of extended phrasing helped thread the parts together into an organic whole... individual listeners morphed into one concentrated listening behemoth, with not a sound – barely a rustle – and scarcely a thought of leaving the room.”
“Amelia Lukas performed with grace and solemnity, holding the audience in breathless suspension for the entire three hours…… Ms. Lukas performed the extremely difficult flute part with ease and smooth tone”
“considerable technique... a fine balance of virtuosity and poetry”
Praise for Amelia’s Productions
EAR HEART MUSIC, BROOKLYN, 2012 - 2015
“Tuesday night at Roulette was the final event of the Ear Heart concert series, a consistently fine series of contemporary classical music, often with a dance or multimedia component. What would normally have been regrettable, though, turned out to be bracing and satisfying: an evening of music by Jason Eckardt and John Zorn that was an exemplary testament both to the programming of artistic director Amelia Lukas and the still vital strain of complexity and virtuosity in contemporary composition.”
- New York Classical Review, 5/20/2015
“If you haven’t heard of Ear Heart Music yet, you haven’t been living in New York. This monthly series continues to bring varied musical performances to the city’s ebullient and hungry multi-media landscape. Each evening touches upon different tastes or artistic interests, attracting familiar audience faces but always reaching yet another branch of the creative scene.”
- Seen and Heard International, 5/28/2014
“On Tuesday, April 22, Ear Heart Music, in partnership with American Modern Ensemble and American Opera Projects, added its name to the list of companies repaving the landscape for new opera in New York City.”
- Opera News, 4/22/14
“The New, in Context, for Ear, Heart and Brain… Wednesday evening’s program of new chamber cantatas by Jeremy Gill and Shulamit Ran, alongside instrumental works by Roussel, Messiaen and Daniel Catán, was both sonically seductive and thought-provoking as it explored the fluid border between the lyric and the dramatic.”
- The New York Times, 12/10/2013
“Ear Heart Music has arrived as a major cultural resource in the City, and we can only be grateful for their effort and imagination… The range and contrast of the program, balancing variety with a more extensive presentation of a single composer provided a solid base for satisfaction… Even though the lights were low and theatrical and I was sitting towards the back of the hall, I could feel an intimate rapport with the individual players, even in a large group. Again the audience was plentiful, knowledgeable, and keen, as far as I could see."
- New York Arts, 11/12/2013
“Embracing a landscape where cross-genre collaboration is not the exception or a special occasion but the rule and standard operating procedure, this contemporary chamber music series, organized by the flutist Amelia Lukas, keeps up its high ambitions with a season at Roulette full of new and recent compositions.”
- The New York Times, 9/7/2013
“The creative combination of musicians, composers, and dancers reflected a unique aspect of the New York new music scene… The results make a rich fabric, and generally attract a fuller and more extensive audience to embrace it, exuberantly.”
- Seen and Heard International, 3/30/2013
“Overall, this was another home run program for Ear Heart Music. Its focus on the visual arts provided a compelling narrative, without diluting or dumbing down the musical content. If anything, it gave the experience of listening to chamber music — so often a pedestrian, formal exercise — a fresh coat of paint.”
- Feast of Music, 1/26/2013
“There’s no missing the arrival of a new season this week: The Metropolitan Opera and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center open Monday, and the New York Philharmonic hosts a gala Thursday. Not to be overlooked, though, is Ear Heart Music, a feisty contemporary-classical concert series organized by the flutist Amelia Lukas, which opens Wednesday at Roulette in Brooklyn. While in Manhattan, Ms. Lukas piloted impressive events on a shoestring budget. Roulette offers greater resources, and Ms. Lukas is taking advantage in an ambitious season filled with premieres and cross-disciplinary collaborations”
- The New York Times, 9/23/2012