Piccolo
Woodwind Family
The piccolo is half the size of a flute and plays one octave higher. It is the highest-sounding instrument in the orchestra and has a very bright sound that can be heard even when the whole group is playing! The piccolo is considered a very challenging instrument to play and is often used for fast, exciting music like the famous solo in Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever.
Artists
Roma Duncan
Flute and Piccolo, Alene M. Grossman Chair
Roma Duncan, who joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 2003, performed Vivaldi’s Piccolo Concerto in C major at Sommerfest 2005 and reprised the work in 2007 at subscription concerts conducted by Gilbert Varga. In 2019, she performed the same work in Orchestra concerts with conductor Jane Glover. She has held numerous roles in recent Young People's Concerts, hosting concerts in 2018, performing as a soloist in Kling's The Elephant and the Fly in 2017, and serving as narrator in Kleinsinger’s Tubby the Tuba in 2011. In Sommerfest 2014 she joined Orchestra colleagues for a chamber concert performing Rossini’s Quartet for Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn.