Mary J. Trotter

Pianist

Years at Source: 2019
Biography: Known for her lyrical and expressive sound, pianist Mary J. Trotter has been referred to as a 'poet at the piano'. Equally at home with operatic and concert repertoire, she is in high demand as a collaborative artist. In July 2019, she joined Cantus for their summer chamber series featuring Schumann's "Dichterliebe." In February 2018, she performed as guest pianist with the Spokane-based Cathedral Kantorei Choir in their program entitled "Spokane Mid-Winter," featuring Morten Lauridsen's "Mid-Winter Songs" as well as the premieres of works by Spokane-area composers. Her work as a music director has included performances with Opera Coeur d’Alene’s “Opera-tunities” program as well as Peabody Opera Outreach, where she music directed and accompanied a world premiere production of "Ariel’s Tempest" by Douglas Buchanan. Originally from Snohomish, WA, Mary earned her B.A. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Whitworth University, her M.M. in Vocal Accompanying from Peabody Conservatory, and her D.M.A. in Collaborative Piano and Coaching from the University of Minnesota.
Website: www.maryjtrotter.com/
Source Moment: During our time at Source, Harrison Hintzsche and I were assigned H.T. Burleigh's setting of "Ethiopia Saluting the Colors,"" a Walt Whitman poem describing an exchange between a Union soldier on Sherman's devastating march to the sea and a one-hundred-year-old slave woman. Our first impression of the poem was that it was racist and inappropriate for 2 white performers to present. We could not get past the dehumanizing manner in which the soldier treated the woman.

We spent months wrestling with it, puzzled by the fact that famed African-American artists, including Langston Hughes, had praised the poem. As we continued to percolate and shared long conversations with Whitman scholar, Ed Folsom, we began to see the story beneath the story. Whitman's words, set brilliantly by Burleigh, tell the tale of a soldier wrestling with what he once held to be true. He begins his journey blinded by his own ignorance and convinced of the absolute rightness of Sherman's cause. However, his encounter with the slave woman forces him to confront the realities of slavery and of war; his interaction with her does not leave him unchanged.

I'm grateful for the chance Harrison and I had to dig deep into this text, for the opportunity to learn from Dr. Folsom, and for the way this story continues to shape me. It reminds me that when I pause to look another in the eye - particularly someone different than myself - when I ponder their story, when I choose to acknowledge their humanity - I do not remain unchanged.