Watch and Listen: BTAR and Musical Storyteller Brittany Trotter
At least twice a month, we will feature blog posts from our Black Teaching Artists-in-Residence (BTARs). Here, Dr. Brittany Trotter shares her first installment.
When you listen to a song, what is the first thing you notice? Is it the rhythmic beat, the catchy melody, or is it the lyrical content? As a performing artist, it is my job to convey to my audience various elements of emotions ranging from sadness to happiness in my sound and body movement. I think of myself not only as a flutist, but a musical storyteller.
I can not think of a better piece to share with you then Ian Clarke’s Zoom Tube for solo flute. This piece not only showcases the capabilities of the flute outside of sounding like sweet bird calls, but it gives the performer the opportunity to act like a modern day rock star. This piece displays nontraditional sounds on the flute such as percussive sounds, multiphonics, and singing & playing (to mimic an electric guitar). It has musical elements of blues and rock n roll that goes beyond the traditional role of a classical flute.
Watch all the way until the end. You might even say to yourself, “It’s the YOWWWW for me”.
~Brittany Trotter, 2021 UniSound Black Teaching Artist-in-Residence
