Forbidden Flutes is a wildly imaginative duo that is ambitiously expanding the repertoire, the sound possibilities, and the audience for their instrument. Throughout their adventurous, twelve-year partnership, Forbidden Flutes has developed a personal sound and a unique vision for their ensemble that is distinct and intimate. Their synergetic ensemble travels between jazz and classical landscapes, pushing the boundaries of each genre. Whether flying through the virtuosic passages of opera fantasies, improvising ornaments on Bach Inventions, rocking the rhythms of Radiohead, or weaving together luscious tango tones, one can not tell where Liesa’s flute begins and Laura’s ends. Since 1998, Laura Barron and Liesa Norman have toured with their eclectic music from the Yukon to Florida. Highlights of their performance career include an appearance for 4,000 flutists at the 2004 National Flute Association Convention in Nashville, as well as a featured recital broadcast on CBC in 2000.
Since their inception, Forbidden Flutes has maintained a steadfast mission to integrate classical music into mainstream culture. Their efforts to realize this vision include presenting their programs in alternative venues while engaging their audience with colorful descriptions of their music. They also tour their popular school show, Bach Rocks and Mozart Swings, which peaks young students’ interest by drawing parallels between classical music and the music of their everyday lives. Most recently, Forbidden Flutes was awarded 2nd prize, out of nearly 100 applicants, in the BC film industry’s Pitchmarket competition, for their TV series concept, The Flute Doctors. As hosts of this show, Laura and Liesa share their infectious enthusiasm to get new listeners excited about classical music. They are now entertaining offers from several major network producers who are keen to develop their series for broadcast. Laura and Liesa also frequently compose, arrange, and commission new works for their ensemble to make their music more relevant to modern audiences.
During the past decade, Laura has held professorships at the Universities of Oregon, Wisconsin, and Northern Arizona. Having appeared as a soloist with the Boston Symphony and in Lincoln Center, she brings to Forbidden Flutes twenty years of classical music experience, as well as the flexibility and creativity that she has cultivated as a novelist and yoga teacher. Liesa enhances their music’s drama and sensuality as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, alternative rock singer/songwriter, model, and actress. This eclectic and versatile pair can be presented as a duo, trio with piano, or enhanced by a full rhythm section including drums and bass. Expect their shows to attract everyone from martini drinking hipsters to the tea and crumpet crowd. The only thing forbidden to them is limits!
