Tracie Whitelaw
Percussion

Tracie Whitelaw spent twenty years as a US military musician, entertaining audiences all over North America, Europe and the Middle East. One highlight was touring the American west coast with the US Army Field Band where they recorded Soundtrack of the American Soldier at Skywalker Sound which won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Immersive Audio Album. Another highlight was teaching the bassoon at the Armed Forces School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia, working with all incoming bassoonists for the Navy, Marines, and Army.

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​A passionate chamber musician, Tracie has participated in many festivals, coordinated benefit recitals, debuted new works by living composers and received a National Endowment for the Arts Rural Residency grant, the Army Musical Performance Team of the Year award for woodwinds, 1st prize at the Carmel International Chamber Music Festival and performed at the National Arts Center of Canada in an artist debut recital.

While serving in the Army, Tracie was asked to play the bass guitar during a deployment to Iraq. She immediately fell in love and decided to make learning bass a priority. She is now the house bass player for the Sunday afternoon Blues Jams at the Legion hosted by the Salt Spring Jazz and Blues Society and she teaches beginner bass in person and online through Ariane Cap’s bass school. Her primary teachers on bassoon were Jesse Read, Christopher Millard and Betty Johnson. Her primary teachers on bass were Ariane Cap and Jim Stinnett.