Making and playing clay musical instruments
Ms. Rawcliffe has extensive experience teaching all ages a variety of subjects centered around her craft of making and playing strange and wonderful musical instruments. She has taught ceramics and making ceramic musical instruments in colleges, high schools and elementary schools; acoustics and making musical instruments in art organizations in Los Angeles, and in Alaska; conducted college seminars on her work as an artist and as a researcher into Pre-Columbian instruments; taught the didjeridu to Junior and Senior High School students and to adults, as well as taught music and improvisation to all ages.
During a McKnight Visiting Composer's Project Grant in September and October, 2000, Ms. Rawcliffe conducted a series of residencies, workshops, lectures and performances for various organizations in Minnesota. In Grand Marias, MN, she worked with high school students to make clay flutes, gave a lecture to the public on her work and taught adults to make and the play ceramic musical instruments. During her workshop at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, participants made clay flutes, whistles, ocarinas, trumpets, whistling pots and musical bowls. She taught didjeridu to high school students at City Academy, St. Paul, MN, gave seminars on her work at Winona State University, MN, and at Metropolitan State University, in addition to a variety of concerts and radio presentations. "...The 12 hour workshop included discussion about Pre-Columbian ceramic instruments, an informal concert on a variety of hand-made instruments, and demonstrations on the creations of these instruments....The class created a series of ceramic flutes, ocarinas, xylophones and musical bowls. Many of the participants had no previous clay experience, but the techniques were simple and easy to understand. Ms. Rawcliffe was able to assist students with the fine tuning of the instruments and answered many questions about construction and playing..." Sarah Millfelt, Education Director, Northern Clay Center, 11/00 During a two week residency in May of 1998 at Chatham College and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh, PA, Ms. Rawcliffe worked with high school and college students to make and play ceramic flutes and pipes, performed on her flutes and didjeridu during seminars with students and faculty, and gave slide lecture/demonstrations about Pre-Hispanic and her own musical instruments. "As I teach ceramics at Columbia College, in June of 1993, I had the pleasure of helping Susan when she conducted 'Sound Sculptures and Wind Instruments,' a week long instrument making workshop... Susan conducts her class with grace, discipline and a passion for the arts. She is well organized and presents her knowledge clearly. She is an accomplished musician and has an extraordinary knowledge of Pre-Columbian wind instruments; this along with her knowledge of ceramics allows her to bridge two art forms. In this way, Susan is a unique professional." Mary Seyfarth, Columbia College, Chicago In addition to the above residencies and workshops, in 1993, Ms. Rawcliffe was a Visiting Artist in Ceramics at Pitzer College, Claremont, CA. She has also taught children to make and play musical instruments through Arts Alaska, Music Center on Tour, Performing Tree, Barnsdall Junior Arts Center, the California Arts Council and more. Additional performances with workshops include the Los Angeles Municipal Theatre, Barnsdall Park, 12/97; PODEWIL, Berlin, Germany, 4/97; Handmade Instruments Festival, Lincoln Center, NYC, 8/95; and the National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts, San Diego, CA, 3/93.
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