Grammy Award-winning artist Lizzo, who is also a classically trained flutist, will reimagine her biggest hits with the National Symphony Orchestra. Local ensemble DCFlutes will open the show.
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“I’m just very excited to get to play this music and I’m mostly excited to meet Lizzo,” Aaron Goldman, one of the co-conductors of DCFlutes and principal flutist with the National Symphony Orchestra, said.
Goldman founded DCFlutes in 2010 and the ensemble has played in New York, Chicago and across the D.C. region. But the Lizzo concert in front of thousands of people will mark their largest audience yet.
“It was great fun going through Lizzo’s tunes and thinking about what would work for a flute ensemble,” Goldman said. “What would sound good [and] what would translate well.”
About 30 local student flutists will also join them on stage to perform a medley of Lizzo’s hit songs. The young musicians include students from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, the D.C. Youth Orchestra Program, the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras and the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestras.
“It was important both for Wolf Trap and Lizzo’s team, and for DCFlutes, to really open this up and make this a bigger event,” Goldman said. “Having the kids involved just makes it that much more special.”
Goldman, who has played the flute since he was 6, praises Lizzo for elevating the instrument and bringing it to a wider audience.
“I’m going to talk to her about her flute journey [and] how flute got her to where she is,” Goldman said. “Her flute playing was where she began.”
Lizzo will perform at 8 p.m. on July 7 at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center in Vienna, Virginia.
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