Biography
Hailed as “one of the finest flutists of her generation” (Flute Network) Laura Barron made her solo debut, at age 17, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Since then, she has given recitals and taught master classes from New Zealand to the Yukon, premiered over 50 works with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, and given several performances at Carnegie Hall. In her early career, she was often a featured soloist with the Brandenburg Ensemble in Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center. Additionally, she served as principal flute of the American Sinfonietta Orchestra, and performed with the Minnesota and Vancouver Symphonies. She has held faculty positions at the University of Oregon, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Northern Arizona University. In 2007, she and her husband Geoff Cross spent an illuminating year traveling to five continents. This experience included European recitals, French courses in Morocco, Dalai Lama teachings in India, and volunteer work in the Bolivian jungle. This transformative time continues to inform her artistic work. A lifelong activist, Laura’s growing interest in Art for Social Change spawned her recently founded non-profit, Instruments of Change, with which she pursues a variety of community-engaged, interdisciplinary art projects in schools, hospices and with at-risk youth throughout Vancouver, where she is now based. During the past two years, Laura also taught yoga at a BC women's prison. Inspired by the positive impact of this work, she has now developed a music education program for incarcerated women with Instruments of Change. Currently, Laura is a member of Something Collective, an artist team-in-residence at Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre, and she has just completed her first novel, Mosquito Chronicles.