About

Susan Rawcliffe is an explorer of primeval soundscapes. She is a master flute maker, player and researcher as well as a master didjeridu player. Her work evolves through a circular process of making acoustical copies of ancient and contemporary specimens, learning to play them, and investing new insights into the creation of more instruments to then learn to play. She delights in exotic and potent sounds, whether as a performer, a creator of musical instruments and sculptures or a researcher into ancient flutes and their music.

Based in the Los Angeles region, Ms. Rawcliffe is available for performances, ceremonies, lectures and workshops. She will be happy to develop programming for your organization. In addition, many of the instruments she makes are for sale: ceramic flutes, pipes, ocarinas and whistles; clay-doos and primitive trumpets; musical bowls and sound sculptures.

For over 25 years, Susan has been making and playing her ceramic instruments. She learned her craft by intensely studying the ceremonial flutes of Pre-Hispanic cultures–Olmec, Mayan, Zapotec, Aztec and more. Their sounds seem to resonate deep in our psyche. Some are raw, like animals, like grief; others evoke human voices singing or crying; sometimes, strange tones buzz inside our heads. Through concerts, lectures and workshops, she strives to bring these sounds back into our lives.