Internationally Renowned One-Man Band Coming to Murray
Feb 13, 2015 06:15PM ● By Peri KinderIn Todd Green’s original poem “Cultural Rebirth,” he writes, “Look beyond our shores/To the music of this earth/ It’ll broaden our horizons/For a cultural rebirth.”
In Todd Green’s original poem “Cultural Rebirth,” he writes, “Look beyond our shores/To the music of this earth/ It’ll broaden our horizons/For a cultural rebirth.”
As a multi-instrumental solo artist, Green has traveled the world studying music with master instructors. His goal is to motivate his audiences to get out of their musical comfort zones by listening to new rhythms, learning a new instrument or embracing different cultures. He will do so Feb. 28 at Murray High School.
“Most people have some experience with a musical instrument,” Green said. “It’s exciting to be a hit with something out of the ordinary. It’s like a mini cultural tidal wave to set you in new directions to explore.”
And Green should know about something out of the ordinary. During his performances, he utilizes more than 30 acoustic string, percussion and flute instruments from many different cultures. From the Middle East and North Africa, the Oud is a popular string instrument that Green has mastered. He also plays a long-necked lute called a Saz, a plucked instrument from Turkey called a Tanbur and several types of Asian and South American flutes.
Green has been writing and performing professionally since he was 15 and is always on the lookout for new and exciting forms of music.
“I truly believe music is the universal language,” Green said. “A lot of the instruments I play are from countries [the U.S.] is having trouble with. [People] can hear that there are beautiful sounds coming from those countries.”
Green uses a custom-built electronic system that allows him to layer different instrument sounds as he performs, turning him into a high-tech, one-man band. Along with his performance at Murray High School on Feb. 28, he will also conduct a workshop for MHS guitar students and hold an assembly for more than 800 Murray students in grades six through nine.