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, they 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.

Having appeared as a soloist with the Boston Symphony and in Lincoln Center, Laura brings to Forbidden Flutes twenty years of international performing experience, as well as the flexibility and creativity she has cultivated as a novelist and yoga teacher.   Liesa enhances their music’s drama and sensuality as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, singer/songwriter, model, and actress. Together, they released their latest CD, Take the L Train, in 2008, to rave reviews. 

Since their inception, Forbidden Flutes has maintained a steadfast mission to integrate classical music into mainstream culture by presenting their programs in alternative venues while engaging audiences 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.  Other projects include the development of a television series, The Flute Doctors, which aims to draw new listeners to classical music, and Instruments of Change which brings music to hospices, prisons and charity house concerts.

Showcase Artist: Pacific Contact 2013

Home Base: British Columbia

Touring Schedule: Click here