Frost finds her next note in Sweden

�鶹ӳ��Ӱ�� is full of exciting events and research. Listen each week to learn more about the people making the most of their moments at LU.

Podcast: S9 Ep. 27
Date: October 06, 2026
Title: Frost finds her next note in Sweden
Host: John Rollins

JOHN ROLLINS: Welcome to the LU Moment, where we showcase all the great things happening with �鶹ӳ��Ӱ�� faculty, staff, students, and alumni. I'm John Rollins, Associate Director of Community Relations and Public Affairs here at LU, and I want to welcome you all to this week's show. My guest today has recently been awarded a Fulbright scholarship to teach flute at the Ingesund School of Music at Karlstad University in Arvika, Sweden, during the spring 2027 semester. We've got Dr. Brielle Frost, associate professor of music, here in the studio today. Welcome to the show, Dr. Frost.

DR. BRIELLE FROST: Thanks for having me.

JOHN: Glad to have you, and I'm so excited about what we're about to talk about. Super awesome experience for one of our own faculty members. So very happy for you. Before you share with us all about the Fulbright Scholarship, let's hear more about you. You know some of your background, and I also want to ask. I got to ask this question right. What made you fall in love with the flute, and what has kept you committed to it throughout your career?

DR. FROST: Oh, great! Well, a little bit about myself is that I'm originally from Iowa, so from the Midwest, and I actually always really loved music. I actually started piano at a very young age, at the age of four, and really enjoyed piano and piano competitions, and then when I got to the age of starting band in about fifth grade, then I absolutely just knew that I wanted to play the flute. I think I just was instinctively drawn to it-the sound of it, the look of it-and it's very portable, easy to carry. So that was a plus, and it was just something that I really enjoyed, and I took to it quite easily. And I knew from an early stage, while in high school, I knew that I wanted to be a professor at a university. So I always had my sets sights set on that goal, and knew that there would be a lot of education to follow after that, so I've always loved music, and I'm a little bit part of a musical family. My brother's a percussionist as well, so yeah, we have some music in the family.

JOHN: So from piano to flute, and now we are still sticking with flute, and I'm sure you're so glad that you are because these amazing opportunities are coming your way. So on that note, let's go ahead and get to the fun stuff. You know, the Fulbright Scholarship Program offers faculty, researchers, and professionals opportunities to teach or conduct research abroad. So yours will be in Sweden, and I'm so very excited for you. So let's have you tell us all about it.

DR. FROST: Oh well, yeah, thank you so much. I'm very excited about this opportunity and and just this award, I'm thrilled about this. I will be taking a faculty development leave next semester, so the spring of 2027, and I'll be living in Arvika, Sweden, and I'll be teaching at the Ingesund School of Music. I'll be teaching flute lessons. I'll be also working with chamber groups there, and also coordinating the studio class as well. And then I'll also be traveling a bit and doing master classes and performances around the Scandinavian countries, so Norway, Denmark, a few other places. So yeah, so I'm really looking forward just the experience of it all, and having the opportunity to travel too.

JOHN: Yeah. Well, and I think it's great for other faculty members to see you being a part of this as well. I mean, sometimes the opportunities that are out there, not everybody's aware of. So the fact that you went for it and received it is amazing.

DR. FROST: Oh yeah, and it's it was something that wasn't even on my radar. I didn't even think about it. But I went to the international department here on campus. I was actually looking to see if there was any fellowship awards or anything because I was already thinking about taking a faculty development leave. And so they steered me in the direction of a Fulbright. They showed me the website, and I'm like, "Alright, let me let me apply,” and it just so happens that the Karlstad University was a host institution that was indicated on the website, and everything really fell into place.

JOHN: Wow, so fantastic! Yeah, you're going to have an amazing time. So, I know you know I went to look at the Mary Morgan Moore Department of Music website just to kind of learn a little bit more about you right before our chat, and I saw you are no stranger to taking your talents on the road or through the air in this case right, but I saw you have performed and given master classes throughout the United States as well as Brazil, Peru, Italy, Costa Rica, Canada-the list goes on and on. How have those experiences shaped you as an artist, a performer, and a teacher?

DR. FROST: Oh well, every single experience is really amazing. And first off, just the people that you meet and experience and interact with the. Collaborations, the musical collaborations are just so fruitful and so enriching. You really get to know more about the music of the culture. You know, you're able to collect and share new repertoire, collaborate, and you know, travel abroad to different conferences. So it's actually it's opened up a whole new world of friendships, musical collaborations, and given me just so much more, you know, insight and perspective of just the style, style of approaching different kinds of music and different music of different cultures as well. So that's always exciting.

JOHN: It opens up a whole lot of possibilities, right?

DR. FROST: Yeah, and any time that you have a chance to put yourself in just a different environment, it really just opens up new ideas, say teaching ideas or learning from other instructors and professors and other musicians, and see you know what processes they go through, go about in their teaching, and then just collaborating with other students, and it's just it really opens up a whole new level of you know understanding and just new perspective in general.

JOHN: Yeah, and then you can bring that back to �鶹ӳ��Ӱ��. So, let's talk a little bit more about your experience in the music department here at Lamar, but in particular, tell us about the woodwinds. You know how, or your day to day, what does your role look like on a typical day?

DR. FROST: Yeah, well, I teach applied flute lessons here at �鶹ӳ��Ӱ��, so I have a studio of about 10 students, 10 flute students. I teach them all one-hour lessons, and they're either music education or performance majors. But I also teach music appreciation one-hour music appreciation class on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays with the non-majors, and then also direct the flute ensemble and also work with my students in an hour-long studio class once a week. So with that, you know I I have a nice schedule with those classes and those lessons, and then in between there I'm practicing, and then also doing administrative work as well.

JOHN: I mean, we know that you stay busy, right? So that's awesome to hear. What is something about your journey that your students, coworkers, or maybe even friends might never see from the outside?

DR. FROST: It's a great question. I think the, and I'm sure a lot of musicians would feel this way and agree, but the journey felt is quite long to get to this place where I'm at. I think it probably wouldn't surprise many professional musicians, but maybe it surprised students just how long it is and kind of how much how the tediousness of it of some aspects, but just the overall hard work and determination, the grit of getting this far in a career, and then also just a lot of the experiences of you know I think everyone sees the successes and all of your successes, but they don't see all the kind of the misses, you know, of the things that the proposals that didn't get accepted, or maybe the performances that didn't go that well, or you know, all the kind of like misses as you're kind of going through the process, and I think just like the learning experiences, I don't. That's something. that you just never like get over. I mean, you're always learning something new, and I'm always learning something from my students and other teachers, and always picking up new things continually.

JOHN: Yeah, kind of like the untold stories, right? You don't get to these places by luck, right? You you put in the work, you put in the time, you work up to it. So this is kind of a little bit more of a broad question. So when you look back on your life in music, because as we said, that's what you say, age 4 playing the piano? It's been your life.

DR. FROST: Yeah.

JOHN: So, what do you hope that the flute ultimately represents? Not just in your career, but in the person you’ve become.

DR. FROST: Oh, I see it as really representing a way that I can make an impact in other lives, primarily in my students' lives. That I can shape their perspective on life, I can help better them, you know, as individuals. That I can inspire them, just to be a you know fuller and more enriched individual and human being, and hopefully that my experiences can show them what's possible, like greater things to come outside of even Lamar. And outside of their degree plan, you know, once they graduate, so I see just the flute and music just as a vehicle for me to make more of an impact on students and young lives, and just to kind of shape their minds as well.

JOHN: I love that. Yeah, yeah, that's a great way to look at it, you know. We’ve always got to be reminded of our why, right? Any career.

DR. FROST: It's such a really enriching and very satisfying career, you know, where we can kind of share music and help students progress in their talents and their abilities, but in the meantime, you have such a close connection, you know, in one-on-one lessons that you really get to know them as individuals and create like a lifelong, you know, bond.

JOHN: Yeah. Well, okay, that kind of leads me to another question I just thought about when you mentioned the lifelong bond. Are you able to ever have you so far? You know, you you watch a student grow and graduate, and they they move on to what's next. Have you ever been able to like collaborate with a student, or take part in a show, or go go see them perform? You know, after graduation or things like keep in touch that way.

DR. FROST: I do keep in touch with students, or I'll send a random text message, just checking up on them, or they'll contact me randomly. I've had some students come in who've gotten different careers. They've still in music, but they've come back into our studio and actually have brought in different instruments and music and talked about talked over the different instruments with the students. So we have collaborated. So that's really fun to be able to see, you know, more of a full circle of of seeing them being successful in in a career in music. And then also, I always see students working as band directors as well, which is really fun too to see them as teachers and see them as leaders and and taking care of their students. So that's always really enjoyable.

JOHN: Nice. And we always love when our alumni come back, right? I know they come back in a capacity where they're influencing our current students. That's amazing. So, how can folks keep up with the Department of Music, and in particular the the flutes here at Lamar? Do y'all have social media, or maybe like a webpage is best? Yeah, keep up with y'all.

DR. FROST: Yeah, we're on Facebook, so we're under the Lamar Flute Studio Facebook page. You can find us there. We usually offer, usually have a performance once a semester. So we'll be having that come up towards the end of this semester. Usually flute ensemble. Yeah. So you can find us on Facebook, and we're always posting different things. That's open to the public.

JOHN: Well, Brielle, thanks again for joining me on the LU Moment, sharing your story, your amazing story. You're in for an amazing spring semester in 2027, and we wish you all the best and go soak it all in, right?

DR. FROST: Oh yes, I will. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

JOHN: Thank you. Alright folks, that's a wrap on another episode. Please make sure to search LU Moment wherever you get your podcasts to keep up with the events, activities, programs, and people right here at �鶹ӳ��Ӱ��. This is John Rollins, your host. Thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.