Composer, flutist, and improviser, Rachel Beetz explores presence through sound and listening. Her works recreate physical atmospheres based on her deep listening adventures in the wild, exploring hidden worlds of nature and machines. Combining experimental field recordings and electronically modified flutes, her works examine community, environmentalism, and women’s work through sound, textiles, and lighting. Her projects have been featured in concert halls and galleries in Australia, Iceland, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. You can hear her on Orenda, Blue Griffin, iikki, Neuma, and Populist record labels. She is currently a co-director of the Wasteland Ensemble and Populist Records.

Her playing is both “elegant” (Washington Post) and “evokes the roar of prehistoric animals” (San Diego Union Tribune). She performs music by living composers and works from the last century. She is a member of Wasteland, Echoi Ensemble, and Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs’ Community Chorus. Rachel appears with ensembles who share her mission such as Callithumpian Consort, International Contemporary Ensemble, Third Coast Percussion, Bozzini Quartet, and Wild Up. Rachel has appeared at festivals such as the Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico), Dark Music Days (Iceland), Time of Music (Finland), American Music Festival (Washington, D.C.), and the Ojai Music Festival (California). She holds a doctorate in Contemporary Performance Practice from UC San Diego.