With his handmade flutes, John Two-Hawks has played the role of teacher and spiritual healer in previous visits to Great Bend. When he returns to the Crest Theater next Friday, the concert performer of Oglala Lakota Sioux lineage hopes to be an enchanter, taking his audience “into the space where the spirit of Christmas lives.”
Two-Hawks will be at the Crest for a 7 p.m. show on Friday, Dec. 7. Advance tickets are on sale at a reduced price  of $10 by calling 888-790-9091 or at the website www.johntwohawks.com. Two-Hawks said tickets will be $15 at the door, which is also $5 off his regular price, as a thank-you to the community for past support.
He will also be at the Shafer Art Gallery at Barton Community College during the “Holiday Open House” from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 9. That free performance is being funded by the Keenan Memorial Music Series, Gallery Director Dave Barnes said.
“Great Bend is a special place,” he said, recalling his connection with listeners during his last shows here. “The audience was really engaged.”
Two-Hawks’ Native American music creates a unique sound for his Christmas concert, even while many of the songs are familiar. Although best known for his flute music, this show will feature full instrumentation as he is accompanied by tracks from his albums. He sings and plays a number of instruments and does his own background vocals.
“Real Christmas music enchants you,” Two-Hawks said. “I’ve tried to instill that spirit in all of the songs.”
The Grammy and Emmy nominated Two-Hawks first performed at the Shafer Gallery on Sept. 12, 2001 — one day after terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the Twin Towers. “I’m excited about getting back to Shafer Gallery,” he said, recalling that show. “The music is about healing. It was one of the most powerful shows I’ve ever done.”
Now Two-Hawks is working on his 23rd album, “Beautiful World,” and preparing for an international tour in 2013 that will take him to 50 cities in eight countries. “The whole album is kind of a shift for me, musically and conceptually,” he said. His music is still about healing, but it’s the healing of mankind.
When he last visited Great Bend in January, Two-Hawks did one of his educational programs in addition to a musical show. He says he’s spent his life learning from the elders and teachers of the Oglala Lakota Sioux and many other nations, prompting some to call him a “‘human anthology’ of accurate information about the culture, traditions and history of American Indian people.”