{"id":3573,"date":"2012-03-01T12:52:47","date_gmt":"2012-03-01T12:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/music-matters\/?p=3573"},"modified":"2018-05-11T10:32:25","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T09:32:25","slug":"scholars-spotlight-melissa-tortorella","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/music-matters\/2012\/03\/01\/scholars-spotlight-melissa-tortorella\/","title":{"rendered":"Scholars Spotlight: Melissa Tortorella"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new feature, profiling this year’s Music Scholars: this week, flautist Melissa Tortorella.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"\"I started playing the flute when I was ten, in my last year of elementary school, but I didn’t become serious about music until high school when my participation in the school’s marching and concert band led me to private lessons. I went on to play in Orlando’s Youth Orchestra and eventually grew enough musically to participate in county and state competitions.<\/p>\n

Although I decided to do a degree in French at the University of Florida, I couldn’t abandon music altogether. I declared Music Performance as a minor and spent four years in the University Marching Band and Symphonic Band — as well as several other for-fun groups, such as Flute Ensemble and Steel Drum Band.<\/p>\n

Joining the musical community was a foregone conclusion when I enrolled at Kent, and I was pleased to discover a number of opportunities to make music on campus. I play the flute and piccolo in the Symphony Orchestra and sing second soprano in the University Choir. I always look forward to music nights during my week and am constantly reminded about music’s universal appeal: judging from the amount of international students that participate in musician ensembles, and as one myself, it’s clear that (excuse the cliche) music really is the world’s universal language.<\/p>\n