When Grace Obert takes the stage as part of a musical ensemble at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, she will be playing an instrument that dates its historical origin to 60,000 years ago during the Neanderthal Age.

The Lehighton High School and the West Chester University School of Music graduate will carry her flute to accompany fellow flutists: Analiesia Hall from Hatboro, Amanda Friesen from Sparta, New Jersey, and Kim Sulahian from Perkasie. Together they call themselves SAGA, an acronym created by the first letters of their first and last names.

SAGA will perform an hour of chamber music at Musikfest in Bethlehem.

Obert’s interest in playing a musical instrument began in Lehighton Elementary School. “I began playing the handbells before the flute,” she said. “My interest in performing peaked right away because I knew I could lose myself in the music.”

She said there are different types of flutes. Some are the piccolo, the C- flute and the alto and base flutes. She can play them all, but prefers the C-flute which is an instrument tuned to one full tone below the standard flute in the key of D.

At West Chester, Obert majored in Flute Performance and Studio Composition. There she met and performed with Hall, Friesen and Sulahian after she and the three women were rated by professors as top-level flutists. “We knew each other for two and a half years so curating the group came naturally.”

SAGA decided to perform traditional chamber music, which by definition is music written for and performed by a small instrumental ensemble. There repertoire includes selections from French composer, Eugene Bozza and Danish composer, Friedrich Kuhlau, the latter who is best known for his piano pieces that have been played at royal weddings. The group also plays original compositions from Malaika Paralkar, a friend and recent graduate of West Chester.

Obert has studied privately for 11 years and credits instructor, Brad Cressley, as well as Robin Kani, principal flutist of the Allentown Symphony for improving her technique, intonation and rhythmic skills. She had previously studied for a week with some of the best teachers in the country at The Consummate Flutist held at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

SAGA reaches for perfection during each performance. “We focus on a strong connection with each other.”

Obert said the untrained ear will not be able to notice the “accuracy” as she puts it, but the group measures the quality of their production upon playing together with perfect detail to each note.

“It’s a complex process to play together accurately,” she said. “There’s a trust we have in each other to perform the uniqueness and the diversity of the music.”

SAGA’s success in attaining a spot on the schedule at Musikfest was facilitated from Obert’s position as program administrator for ArtsQuest, the nonprofit organization that runs Musikfest. ArtsQuest also provides access to art, culture, and educational programs in the Lehigh Valley. She handles performers’ contracts and hospitality issues. Musikfest runs until Sunday in both the North and South sides of the city.

The story behind the story of SAGA is significant to the four women who comprise the ensemble. “We are highlighting female performers and a female composer,” said Obert. “We are pushing the barrier on a type of music that is not typically traditional classical music and not typically composed and performed by women.”

With dreams of one day performing at Carnegie Hall in New York or at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, what she will do for now is enjoy what she does best.

“I just love to create and to perform music,” she said.

SAGA’s free performance is part of the Vesper Concert Series and will be in the Central Moravian Church on the North Side of Musikfest.