Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth McNutt.
Hi Elizabeth, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I got started as a musician a pre-teen, thanks to the public school music program. Within a few years, I became serious music student, competing and playing in as many ensembles as I could. I aimed to be an orchestral flutist, but my path took many unexpected turns. I have become known for being a virtuoso who champions innovative and experimental music. The music I love most pushes boundaries of virtuosity and expression. I enjoy taking on new challenges, especially ones that challenge my creativity, problem-solving skills, and technique.I call myself an “extreme flutist” because my career path and artistic work is quite different than a typical “classical” flutist. I teach at one of the best music programs in the country (UNT), and curate concerts in contemporary art venues like the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I doubt anyone has a smooth road. My biggest current challenge? Our society loves categorizing, and my artistic work largely defies categorization! This can create problems promoting events, getting support, and more. This is even an issue in my faculty position; while I am in three divisions (composition, instrumental studies, and conducting/ensembles) I am not fully a part of any of them. I try to embrace this grey area — I call myself a hybrid! I am a flutist, but I also direct ensembles, improvise, curate concerts, play theremin (an electronic instrument) and melodica (a small keyboard that is blown into), perform with interactive computer systems, and create performance art pieces using household objects as musical instruments.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
As an “extreme flutist,” my projects include performances with computers, recordings of notated music, improvisations with my feminist improvising group Bitches Set Traps (BST Improv), and many collaborations with composers to create new works (I stopped counting after two hundred premieres). I am most proud of creating the new music series Sounds Modern, in which I curate concerts connected to visual art. We’ve been presenting concerts since 2007 at the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth and other locations like the Dallas Museum of Art and the Chinati Foundation in Marfa.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
It is very rare for artists to be discovered; it takes effort to find and create opportunities. Go to other art events and connect with other artists (in your discipline and in others) – we are all stronger if we work together.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.elizabethm
cnutt.net - Instagram: @flutewhich, @bstimprov, @soundsmodern
- Facebook: https://www.facebook
.com/elizabeth.mcnutt.50 - Youtube: https://www.youtube.c
om/channel/UCtR3u-h3Z9GPo46lPj EF55g
Image Credits
Jennifer Boomer
Elle Logan
Stephen Lucas
