Lauren Yeomans

Flute

How many years have you been with EPO?

I joined the EPO around 2014.

What is your experience as a musician?

Music has always been a significant part of my life from a very young age both having started Suzuki flute lessons at the age of 6 (a short stint learning violin the year previous turned out to be less than fruitful) as well as singing and playing recorder at home. I knew I wanted to make a career out of making music when I was about 14 as I had been assigned to learn the Fauré Fantasie over the summer and discovered that I not only loved the music itself but loved the process of working on it. I went on to do my BMus at the Glenn Gould School and my MMus at Rutgers University. Since returning to Toronto I have been freelancing in town as well as starting a wind quintet, Quintagious!, where I not only get to play flute but sing and arrange all kinds of music for the ensemble including Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite.

What do you think is special about the flute?

It’s been explained to me that a young Lauren picked the flute out of the old Boddington Music store on Avenue Road because it was the shiniest and one could argue that continues to be an allure to this day. I think there’s a common misconception that the flute is just twittery and bird-like but what I love the most about it is its range of capabilities from a silvery lightness to a full bodied brassy heft. In many ways I think it’s the closest instrument to the voice but for obvious reasons I might be biased.

How do you feel the flute is best used in the orchestra?

The flute is best used when it’s written for its unique timbral qualities both in its solos (The pantomime from Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe is a perfect example of its range of colours) as well as in combination with other instruments. I love all the dark tones we can play with at the lower end of the instrument as well as rocking out with the violins at the top of our range!

In our November 5 show you are branching out into conducting a movement of Bach's Concerto for Two Violins. Congratulations! What makes this piece special to you?

For one, I grew up on Bach so his music feels like breathing to me. What a lot of people forget about Bach is that in his lifetime he was predominantly known as an organ virtuoso so even though his music is complex and intricate it was written as a method of being expressive, not just pontificated. The Concerto for Two Violins is absolutely one of his masterworks and it was a delight to be able to join in making the music come alive with my colleagues in the Etobicoke Philharmonic

What strikes you most about the difference between conducting and playing in an orchestra?

I would argue that transitioning from flute to conductor is one of the easier instruments of the orchestra as when we’re in a leadership role we essentially use the end of our instrument as a pseudo-baton to keep our section together. To me moving to the podium felt a lot more natural than I expected but there are some important differences. When playing the flute you’re still responsible for making sure that what you play sounds good so even though you might want to be paying attention to everything around you, you still need to be responsible for technical considerations. Conducting requires an intense amount of preparation and even still you have no idea what will and won’t be useful in the rehearsal process until you’re in front of the musicians. You have to simultaneously be in the moment as you’re leading the players through the music while also listening to any problems that come up and then afterwards try to remember what you need to go through again while also trying to figure out how to solve it and communicate that to the players in the most effective way. A very rewarding challenge for sure!