Lizzo invites history up onto the stage in D.C. and respectively twerks in excitement when given a 200-year-old crystal flute to play.
Lizzo jumped at the opportunity to play a 200-year-old flute at her recent performance in D.C. Not only does she kill it, but her twerking at this point is pretty much unmatched!
On loan from the Library of Congress, President James Madison’s flute is made entirely out of crystal and silver. It was gifted to the President in honour of his second inauguration in 1813.
The crystal flute was made by a Parisian craftsman who believed that glass flutes would hold their pitch and tone better than flutes made of wood or ivory, which were commonplace at the time. He also had the flute’s silver joint engraved with the president’s name and the year.
Lizzo’s flute playing is equal to her voracious energy, singing, and songwriting talents. Classically trained as a flutist, Lizzo can pretty much confidently knock out anything on the flute while multitasking (note the twerking). She took a moment out from the setlist of The Special Tour to play the crystal flute for the crowd: “That makes Lizzo the first and only person to play the centuries-old flute,” she declared later in a Tweet.
The crystal flute is among the more than 1,800 flutes that are housed in the Library of Congress, which actually holds the most extensive flute collection in the world. How did it all come about, you ask? On Friday, Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress, tagged Lizzo in a Tweet showing off the crystal flute (among others), and invited her “to come to see it and even play a couple when you are in D.C. next week.”
“Like your song, they are Good as Hell,” Hayden added, with a winking emoji. Lizzo quickly RSVP’d with an enthusiastic Tweet of her own: “IM COMING CARLA! AND IM PLAYIN THAT CRYSTAL FLUTE!!!!!” Watch the historical flute in the care of Lizzo’s good hands below:
NOBODY HAS EVER HEARD THIS FAMOUS CRYSTAL FLUTE BEFORE
NOW YOU HAVE
IM THE FIRST & ONLY PERSON TO EVER PLAY THIS PRESIDENTIAL 200-YEAR-OLD CRYSTAL FLUTE— THANK YOU @librarycongress ❤️ pic.twitter.com/VgXjpC49sO
— FOLLOW @YITTY (@lizzo) September 28, 2022
The @librarycongress has the largest flute collection in the world with more than 1,800. It incl Pres James Madison’s 1813 crystal flute. @lizzo we would love for you to come see it and even play a couple when you are in DC next week. Like your song they are “Good as hell.”😉 pic.twitter.com/2FkUFZfIYh
— Carla Hayden (@LibnOfCongress) September 23, 2022
