Bruce Stoller has lived in the Sonoran desert for 30 years. as a Pianist and Composer, and flutemaker. He spends his time freelancing, and composing, playing regular hotel, convention, and concerts as a solo pianist, and as a yucca flute player, writing compositions inspired by the Sonoran skyline.

He wears two hats in this world: pianist, and flute player. Both seem of different worlds, but live under the same sun. His repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary pianism to jazz and pop genres. A frequent artist in residence, Bruce Stoller conveys the power of using one's imagination by sharing the yucca flute exprience through "The Sonoran Flute Boy", a forthcoming children's book.

Making yucca flutes was not and obvious link to being an artist. Artists are often set out on a path that they self-fulfill, due to their early training. When they reach a point where they have outgrown those early influences, they must reinvent themselves; facing an artistic crossroads, if you will. Putting one's hands into the dirt, working with tools, to make an instruments to breathe into had a direct effect on not only composing, but piano playing as well.

Having always doubled on transverse flute, he also took up bamboo instruments in the early 70's in New York. Thus a casual relationship with Shakuhachi and ethnic music began. He attended Manhattan School of Music, and recieved a gradute degree at University of Arizona in piano performance. While rooted in classical pianism, in traveling West he discovered new musical horizons, which find their way back to piano composition and performance.

During the late 70's and early 80's, while living in Bisbee, AZ, he stumbled accross the yucca and agave plants that line the landscape of the Mule Mountains. Noticing their tall stature and dried condition, they seemed obvious material for flutemakeing. A light of curiosity went off, and he soon began to harvest the dried, dessicated blooms of the yucca, sotol, and agave plants.

With no known precedent in the Southwest using yucca and agave for flute making, Stoller unwittingly walked into an exciting creative experience. At first, using his bamboo instruments, he quickly learned to transfer proper measurements to the yucca cylinder to obtain accurate tuning. Under the assumption that Native Americans or Hispanic cultures had used yucca for fluting, Stoller proceeded, through trial and error, to produce several sizes of flutes, utilizing similar bamboo tuning techniques. The first, pentatonic, is similar to Japanese bamboo Shakuhachi. And the second, diatonic, which is similar to the South American Quena. The Yucca flute has the sound of so-called Lakota block flutes made from cedar, with the blowing power of shakuhachi. And because they are plants botanically suited to the sonoran desert's harsh and dry environment, they are guaranteed not to crack or split.

These materials have a long history of medicinal use and in the case of agave, are also used for the distillation of tequila and mescal. Botanically, they belong to the lily family. Birds and bees use the tall blooms for shelter and pollen gathering. The blooms remain standing dry in the desert for decades, long after the plant has died.

To his great astonishment, he could find no examples of yucca or agave used in flute making. In fact, when the idea first occurred to Stoller to make cylinders, many traditional bamboo makers tried to discourage him, saying “if they were any good for flute making, someone would have already done it.” But intrigued by the Sonoran Desert, Stoller wanted to have a unique experience. A long time admirer of Japanese Music and a shakuhachi player, he suddenly saw an opportunity to make instruments from the yucca and agave.

The flutes have undergone nearly two decades of improvement, and continue to occupy a unique voice in the flute world.