ARTIST Biography
Joanne Lazzaro is a classically trained flutist who “accidentally released a New Age solo Native American flute album.” Under The Stars (2015) went on to win multiple awards both in the USA and globally, establishing her as an independent world flutes recording artist. In 2018 she started her own record label JoRazzal Music, releasing a World Premiere recording of Canyon Shadows by renowned classical flutist & composer Katherine Hoover, featuring her trio “Dreamcatcher”. Recognizing her first effort as a Producer, “Searching – Desert Dawn Mix” from that album was nominated for a 2018 Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best World Recording. Her most recent release is the world premiere recording "A Dark Goddess - for flute and strings" by contemporary classical composer David Warin Solomons. This acclaimed single is JoRazzal music's first foray into high-definition audio (96 kHz/ 44 bit) and remote recording with the St. Petersburg (Russia) studio strings.
Joanne began taking classical flute lessons at the age of 10 as part of a school band program. “It was the only instrument I really wanted to play - I never considered anything else.” Naturally, she soon picked up piccolo, alto flute & bass flute too. Her love of the flute extended to every exotic flute-like instrument she could find, and soon developed a collection of bamboo, ceramic and wooden flutes that friends and relatives found on their travels. Her first Native American flute found her in a gift shop in Boulder Colorado, where she had stopped on a cross-country camping trip. “As soon as I played a few notes on it, I was completely hooked.” She learned to play it sitting by the campfire, under the stars. “I didn’t fully appreciate the potential of the Native American flute until the day I heard Carlos Nakai’s album Canyon Trilogy playing in a National Park Visitor Center. He played so beautifully – I bought the album (of course!) and I was inspired to get serious about playing it really well.”
Founder and host of the Los Angeles World Flute Circle, she continues to inspire flute love and awareness through her convention workshops for both the National Flute Association and the World Flute Society.
Joanne currently maintains an active teaching, performing and recording schedule that straddles the fields of classical orchestral concerts, world flute teaching and performing, independent recording artist, and Los Angeles session musician. She’s performed in venues ranging from local art shows & farmers markets, to the Crystal Cathedral, Los Angeles Disney Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, and both Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall (New York City). Her positions as Principal Flute of the Beach Cities Symphony Orchestra and member of the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra, as well as other local orchestral calls, keep her busy during the classical concert season. As an orchestral musician, she’s shared the stage with artists as varied as CeCe Winans, James Galway, Billy Childs, and Serj Tankian.
World flutes keep her in demand for studio sessions with other independent recording artists & film-makers. Her 2021 session for "Eden Ahbez's Dharmaland" required "an entire trunkload of flute" in order to replicate the flute sounds of the 1960's pop icon Eden Ahbez. She inspires new flutists as the founder and host of the Los Angeles World Flute Circle, is an active member of the Los Angeles chapter of NARAS (the GRAMMYs™) and a popular workshop clinician with both the National Flute Association & the World Flute Society. She holds a BS in Music from Lebanon Valley College and a Master of Music from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. Her solo music, and her releases with the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra, are all available at CDBaby, AppleMusic, Apple Music Classical, Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify, Amazon, Deezer, Tiktok, Pandora & most streaming services worldwide.
And for the curious - Here's some new information courtesy of 23&Me!
For years, every time I played Native American flute, people often would ask me "Are you of Native American descent" to which I would answer "No, not as far as I know!" When I got my DNA analyzed in 2017, I (and the rest of my family) was surprised to learn that I am 2/10ths of 1 percent Native American (a single ancestor, tribe unknown), on my paternal grandmother's side, pre-dating the arrival of my Italian great-grandparents in America. There's an untold story there that I'd like to uncover someday.
Just The Facts....
Member, National Flute Association (listed in Teachers Directory)
Member, World Flute Society (listed in Teachers Directory)
Member, AFM Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA)
PRO: ASCAP
NARAS Voting member, The Recording Academy (The GRAMMYS®) Los Angeles Chapter
Official Artist: Indie Collaborative - Los Angeles Chapter
Secret Super-Powers - Rode a bicycle from Los Angeles to Boston. Have a Yellow Belt in Krav Maga.
Education-
BS in Music Education, Lebanon Valley College
MM in Flute Performance, University of Southern California Thornton School of Music
Current performing groups-
Beach Cities Symphony Orchestra
Principal Flute, 2016- to present
http://www.beachcitiessymphony.org
Los Angeles Flute Orchestra
Videos of LAFO concerts on our YouTube Channel LAFlute Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/user/LAFluteOrchestra?feature=mhee
Visit our website: www.losangelesfluteorchestra.com
(and please Like us on Facebook!)
Pipe Dream Flutes
Visit our website www.pipedreamflutes.com
(and please Like us on Facebook!)
Publications
Overtones – World Flute Society
Feature Article(s)
“Improvisation for Beginners” – 2016 Workshop – November 2016, Volume 4, pp. 20 – 23.
Compilation Articles – Panel Questions & Answers
“All About Performing Flutists” – May 2019, Volume 2, pp 22-23
“Music, Preparation, and Performance” – May, 2018, Volume 2, pp. 27-28
Astronomers Without Borders (online)
Feature Article - Astro-Artist of the Month
"The Making of "Under The Stars" September 2015
Editor & Arranger (sheet music)
"Canyon Shadows - for native flute, flute and percussion", by Katherine Hoover (posthumous edittion)
Papagena Press, 2019 (available through Theodore Presser Music)
And lastly, "Where was that banner photo taken?"
Mono Lake, California, by photographer Nik Arkimovich
Copyright 2012 - 2023 Joanne Lazzaro / JoRazzal Music. All rights reserved
Joanne began taking classical flute lessons at the age of 10 as part of a school band program. “It was the only instrument I really wanted to play - I never considered anything else.” Naturally, she soon picked up piccolo, alto flute & bass flute too. Her love of the flute extended to every exotic flute-like instrument she could find, and soon developed a collection of bamboo, ceramic and wooden flutes that friends and relatives found on their travels. Her first Native American flute found her in a gift shop in Boulder Colorado, where she had stopped on a cross-country camping trip. “As soon as I played a few notes on it, I was completely hooked.” She learned to play it sitting by the campfire, under the stars. “I didn’t fully appreciate the potential of the Native American flute until the day I heard Carlos Nakai’s album Canyon Trilogy playing in a National Park Visitor Center. He played so beautifully – I bought the album (of course!) and I was inspired to get serious about playing it really well.”
Founder and host of the Los Angeles World Flute Circle, she continues to inspire flute love and awareness through her convention workshops for both the National Flute Association and the World Flute Society.
Joanne currently maintains an active teaching, performing and recording schedule that straddles the fields of classical orchestral concerts, world flute teaching and performing, independent recording artist, and Los Angeles session musician. She’s performed in venues ranging from local art shows & farmers markets, to the Crystal Cathedral, Los Angeles Disney Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, and both Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall (New York City). Her positions as Principal Flute of the Beach Cities Symphony Orchestra and member of the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra, as well as other local orchestral calls, keep her busy during the classical concert season. As an orchestral musician, she’s shared the stage with artists as varied as CeCe Winans, James Galway, Billy Childs, and Serj Tankian.
World flutes keep her in demand for studio sessions with other independent recording artists & film-makers. Her 2021 session for "Eden Ahbez's Dharmaland" required "an entire trunkload of flute" in order to replicate the flute sounds of the 1960's pop icon Eden Ahbez. She inspires new flutists as the founder and host of the Los Angeles World Flute Circle, is an active member of the Los Angeles chapter of NARAS (the GRAMMYs™) and a popular workshop clinician with both the National Flute Association & the World Flute Society. She holds a BS in Music from Lebanon Valley College and a Master of Music from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. Her solo music, and her releases with the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra, are all available at CDBaby, AppleMusic, Apple Music Classical, Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify, Amazon, Deezer, Tiktok, Pandora & most streaming services worldwide.
And for the curious - Here's some new information courtesy of 23&Me!
For years, every time I played Native American flute, people often would ask me "Are you of Native American descent" to which I would answer "No, not as far as I know!" When I got my DNA analyzed in 2017, I (and the rest of my family) was surprised to learn that I am 2/10ths of 1 percent Native American (a single ancestor, tribe unknown), on my paternal grandmother's side, pre-dating the arrival of my Italian great-grandparents in America. There's an untold story there that I'd like to uncover someday.
Just The Facts....
Member, National Flute Association (listed in Teachers Directory)
Member, World Flute Society (listed in Teachers Directory)
Member, AFM Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA)
PRO: ASCAP
NARAS Voting member, The Recording Academy (The GRAMMYS®) Los Angeles Chapter
Official Artist: Indie Collaborative - Los Angeles Chapter
Secret Super-Powers - Rode a bicycle from Los Angeles to Boston. Have a Yellow Belt in Krav Maga.
Education-
BS in Music Education, Lebanon Valley College
MM in Flute Performance, University of Southern California Thornton School of Music
Current performing groups-
Beach Cities Symphony Orchestra
Principal Flute, 2016- to present
http://www.beachcitiessymphony.org
Los Angeles Flute Orchestra
Videos of LAFO concerts on our YouTube Channel LAFlute Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/user/LAFluteOrchestra?feature=mhee
Visit our website: www.losangelesfluteorchestra.com
(and please Like us on Facebook!)
Pipe Dream Flutes
Visit our website www.pipedreamflutes.com
(and please Like us on Facebook!)
Publications
Overtones – World Flute Society
Feature Article(s)
“Improvisation for Beginners” – 2016 Workshop – November 2016, Volume 4, pp. 20 – 23.
Compilation Articles – Panel Questions & Answers
“All About Performing Flutists” – May 2019, Volume 2, pp 22-23
“Music, Preparation, and Performance” – May, 2018, Volume 2, pp. 27-28
Astronomers Without Borders (online)
Feature Article - Astro-Artist of the Month
"The Making of "Under The Stars" September 2015
Editor & Arranger (sheet music)
"Canyon Shadows - for native flute, flute and percussion", by Katherine Hoover (posthumous edittion)
Papagena Press, 2019 (available through Theodore Presser Music)
And lastly, "Where was that banner photo taken?"
Mono Lake, California, by photographer Nik Arkimovich
Copyright 2012 - 2023 Joanne Lazzaro / JoRazzal Music. All rights reserved