This journey began in 1992 when I discovered the sacred instrument of the Shona people of Zimbabwe called the mbira. After studying with musicians throughout North America, I moved to Zimbabwe to study the music and met my teacher, Newton Gwara. While living there, I came to appreciate and respect the traditional saying “If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing”.

The work of Rattletree has also evolved over the years from straight traditional acoustic Shona music to a fusion of midi ­triggered synthesized sounds with the ancient music.  The group is currently working on a show with visual projection artists, costume designers, and sculptors entitled “The Earth Loves You”. Many aspects of the performance, including lighting elements, sound textures, and projected images are able to be directly controlled and manipulated by the audience with interactive “triggers” while the performance is happening.

By engaging with these custom made “triggers”, the audience will be an integral part of the performance. Each show will be unique and something that everyone participating will be able to feel like they had an essential role in creating.I hope this experience will change ordinary people’s perceptions of themselves and their relationship to the artistic process. By inviting individuals to actively co-­create the show I’d like to empower them to believe that they are not only guests attending a performance, but an integral part of the art.