Musical instruments have helped us to communicate and express ourselves since the dawn of humanity
About the Artist
Melissa Hyatt Foss is an instrument-maker, musician, composer-performer and teaching artist who co-creates with an ever-growing collection of instruments that she hand-crafts with clay and other natural materials. Her instruments, which are both visual and sonic objects, both sculptural and functional, recreate and reimagine Pre-Columbian sound artifacts of the Americas through the lens of personal narrative and regional mythology. Melissa received her training in Argentina under the tutelage of composer and educator Alejandro Iglesias Rossi and musicologist and educator Susana Ferreres, and developed her career as a performer, instrument-maker, teaching artist, and researcher for over a decade in connection with the National University of Argentina. There she completed her master’s degree in Musical Composition, New Technologies, and Traditional Arts and performed as a soloist for 7 years with the Orchestra of Indigenous Instruments and New Technologies.Artist's Statement
As a professional teaching artist, Melissa has created and delivered innovative, bilingual (English & Spanish) educational programming with groups of all ages at the National University of Argentina, Baltimore Museum of Art, Shepherd University, Creative Alliance, and Baltimore Clayworks, and with early childhood through 8th grade in schools across the state of Maryland. Her arts integrated performances, workshops, residencies and professional development trainings focus on using clay, music, and Pre-Columbian musical instrument traditions to inspire interest in nature, culture, and history, while facilitating embodied creative experiences and group connectivity.Featured Work
Photos



Featured Work: Photos
Shell Bells
Owl Flute
Brain Coral Triple Flute
Videos
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Snake Double Flute
Video features a short composition I played, recorded, and produced with sounds from the instrument, which is a double flute featuring an original design with a snake motif, and “intuitive” tuning. This instrument is composed of two different flutes which can be played independently or together to create multiphonic melodies and beat frequencies.
Medium: Earthenware, oxidesYear: 2022Details: Video features a short composition I played, recorded, and produced with sounds from the instrument, which is a double flute featuring an original design with snake motif, and “intuitive” tuning. This instrument is composed of two different flutes which -
Heron Horn
Video features a short composition I played, recorded, and produced with sounds from the instrument, which is a hand-built horn inspired by Great Blue Heron. This sculptural instrument can be played in different ways to produce sounds ranging from percussive to bird calls to deep digeridoo-like drones.
The shape, design, and coloring of the instrument is inspired by the morphology of Great Blue Heron, who has been an important bird throughout my life story.
Medium: Earthenware, oxides, pigments, beeswaxYear: 2023Details: 10 ½ x 4 x 8 in -
Mente Mineral (Mineral Mind)
Mente Mineral (Mineral Mind) is a more-than-human music mask that is an homage to the mountain range of Chubut, Argentina, which once formed part of the Gondwana supercontinent. The wild clays used to make this piece, which date back to the Miocene (13 million year old material) and the Paleocene periods (66 Million year old material) were responsibly harvested and used to sculpt this piece in situ over the course of 4 days during a residency organized by Nómada Cerámica.
The instrument produces sound with internal bells and two small flutes that have two finger holes each. The flutes can be played separately or together to produce melodies and beat frequencies.Medium: Wild clay, beeswaxYear: 2023Details: 7 x 10 ½ x 3 ¾ in
Music/Audio
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See more information about Innervision
Composition for hand-built instruments including double flute, death whistle, rattles and turú, and electronic instruments.
Mixing & Mastering by Ricardo Wheelock
© 2021 Melissa Hyatt Foss
Medium: MusicYear: 2021Details: 03:21 -
See more information about Whewan
Composition for synth, found natural instruments, handcrafted horn and flutes, and voice.
“Whewan” is an Orkney (Scotland) word for wind that howls around corners; the imagery and mood of this word feel perfect for this piece.
© 2023 Melissa Hyatt Foss
Medium: Electroacoustic compositionYear: 2023Details: 26:55 -
See more information about Palingenesis
Palingenesis is a composition for hand-built triple flute, tree branches, field recordings, and electronics. The piece is a contemplation on the circular nature of time, both in relation to natural cycles, and the processes of inner healing.
Composed using a hand-crafted ceramic triple flute, which features three different tubular flutes with intuitive microtonal tunings, the composition ebbs and flows along a patient, purposeful journey into the depths of the flute’s unique sonic material, stretching it to its limits and finally disintegrating it completely with digital processing like sampling and granular synthesis before ultimately reaching a quiet corner of focused integration.
Mixing & Mastering by Ricardo Wheelock
© 2024 Melissa Hyatt Foss
Medium: Electroacoustic compositionYear: 2024Details: 10:13
Booking
Booking Price: < $500
Arianna Ross, CEO, Story Tapestries
Ellen Hoobler, Curator, Walters Museum
Joy Davis, Visual Arts Director, Creative Alliance Baltimore
Arts in Education
Audiences Types: Early Childhood (0-3 years old), Grades Pre-K – 2, Grades 3-5, Middle School (6-8 grade), High School (9-12 grade), Creative Aging (Older Adults), People with Disabilities (includes people w/ cognitive, social/emotional, and/or physical disabilities), LGBTQ+ community, English Language Learners, Educators, Other Population/Community
Performance-based Audiovisual Presentations (Adults 15+)
Ancient peoples of all times and latitudes have used an elaborate weave of myth, art, and music to communicate their world visions. In the Americas we can connect with this heritage through a rich tradition of musical instruments whose forms, scales and sounds give us a glimpse into the extraordinary cultures that created them. Through an audiovisual presentation and live demonstrations with working recreations of ancient instruments, we will experience examples of sound and music from different cultures and explore their relevance in our world today.
Music Performance – Halconcito Pichón (Little Hawk) and the Magic Quest (Pre K through 5th grade)
In this performance students go on a journey through sound, music, and storytelling where they’re introduced to different instruments that have shaped the sonic landscape of the Americas, from rare Pre-Colonial ceramic instruments made thousands of years ago, to folk instruments that continue to shape Latin American music to this day. As they take in the melodies of flutes, rattles, noise generators, hand drum, and charango, they participate in a mythical tale of challenge and persistence that ultimately leads to triumph and celebration.
Performances can be offered in English and Spanish
Instrument-making school residencies (4th through 12th grade)
In these residencies students are introduced to musical instruments that have been made across Central and South America for thousands of years and learn through a step-by-step process with simple pottery techniques to construct their own one-of-a-kind rattles or flutes with clay. Together we navigate between the functional and visual aspects of Pre-Columbian instrument-making, exploring dimensions of sound like timbre, pitch, and volume, while developing personal story through design and decoration. Throughout the process experimentation, individual expression, creative decision making, and problem solving are emphasized.
Musical school residencies (Early Childhood through 5th grade)
Throughout this residency students are introduced to different instruments of the ancient Americas: multiple flutes, whistling bottles, and noise generators, and learn about the Ocarina, a popular and widely known instrument with great cultural and historical significance. We delve into the functional and visual aspects of Pre-Columbian instrument-making, exploring dimensions of sound like timbre, pitch, and volume, and analyzing the ways that culture and personal story are developed in design and decoration. Through structured group exercises, students experiment with sound and movement, and explore different sources of inspiration and ways of making music with an instrument that is fun and easy to play.
Professional Development Workshops
Create your own Musical Instrument for Classroom Management (For educators)
Musical instruments have helped us to communicate and express ourselves since the dawn of humanity. Learning to build and play our own musical instruments slows us down, connects us to our bodies and to our self-expression, and helps us to rediscover a sense of wonder, curiosity, and play. In this workshop teachers will learn about musical instruments that have been made across Central and South America for thousands of years and learn to build their own attention-grabbing instrument for classroom management.
Learn to Teach Instrument-Making in the Classroom (For educators)
Musical instruments have helped us to communicate and express ourselves since the dawn of humanity. Learning to build and play our own musical instruments slows us down, connects us to our bodies and to our self-expression, and helps us to rediscover a sense of wonder, curiosity, and play. In this workshop teachers will learn about musical instruments that have been made across Central and South America for thousands of years and learn to build their own clay flutes while also gaining an understanding of how to structure an instrument-making program and instruct these same skills in the classroom.
All programs can be offered in English and Spanish