June 23, 2023
By Chloe Arrington

This Summer, we are getting to know members of our community and learning more about their lives beyond the workplace. Roxanne Moore, Senior Research Engineer at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, talked to us about her life-long journey with music and how art and science intersect for her. 
 

When did your interest in music start? 

I started asking for piano lessons around age four. My mom taught me a little at home, and by age five I could play melodies with my right hand and chords with my left. My mother convinced a piano teacher to take me on because of this–normally she didn't start with children that young. I also played the flute from fourth-to-eighth grade. 

I made the switch into percussion, both melodic (like xylophone and marimba) and non-melodic (like drums) starting in seventh grade. I played percussion through high school and college, including in a highly competitive drum and bugle corps (like marching band for the most dedicated). I've also always loved to sing, and I finally started taking voice lessons periodically a couple of years ago.  
 

When did you start creating your own music?

I never really considered myself to be a composer. I did take music theory courses while I was at the University of Illinois and got a little into arranging. I wrote the percussion scores for my high school marching band for a few years.  

It was only last year that I composed and recorded my first song, and it is now on Spotify and YouTube. The song is very sad, but it felt important to write it. It was written in honor of one of the victims of the Uvalde shooting. The recording includes me singing, and a friend of mine from undergrad is playing the piano. I have worked on some other songs since then, and I hope to record an album in the not-too-distant future.  
 

How do music and science coexist for you? 

I have heard some people say that art doesn't have a function and I disagree. A lot of art and music convey a message or other functions. I have heard people say that art doesn't have constraints, and I also disagree with this. Artists can have budgets, customer needs, geometric constraints, material selection, and other requirements that feel a lot like engineering design. Artists also make prototypes (though they may not use that vocabulary). I also see plenty of engineering that I would describe as uninspired, where the artistry is lacking. This goes beyond the aesthetic, but 'performance' is certainly a word I would expect engineers to know! 
 

So, are you an engineer who also makes art, or an artist with engineering as a medium?

The more I think about the relationship between art and engineering, the more I can't decide what the difference is. It's not like I stop being an engineer because I'm doing something artistic, any more than I stop being an artist when I'm doing engineering or research. I'm trying to be more honest about these two sides of myself and more confident in bringing both to the table. I have felt in the past that it is harder to be taken seriously in engineering when I have talked about music or other passions. I'm slowly realizing that this is a strength and not a weakness. 
 

Can we see you perform? 

Not so much these days! I have done a lot with the marching band in school like I said, my drum and bugle corps toured the country playing football fields of various sizes, from high schools to pro stadiums. In college, I also played with various orchestras, a symphonic band, a percussion ensemble, and my favorite, a steel drum band! I was in a student combo called I-PAN and we played at local bars and restaurants.  

I have also played with the Atlanta Community Symphony for a few years. Now you can occasionally find me singing Broadway karaoke at Campagnolo Restaurant & Bar on Friday or Saturday. I hope to get over more of my performance anxiety by having some performances at my house!