Download Zara Lawler's
Solo Resume (PDF - 120KB)
ABOUT
Zara Lawler is an acclaimed flutist, interdisciplinary performer, and educator. She is a uniquely communicative and versatile performer, equally at home in front of an orchestra or in recital, interpreting the classics of the flute repertoire or new works that combine playing with acting, dancing and storytelling. Her ground-breaking work combining music with dance, theater and storytelling, as a soloist or ensemble member, brings a new definition to the word virtuoso.
Noted as “an engaging, fluent, mellifluous soloist,” Lawler made her concerto debut with the Houston Symphony and her recital debut at New York’s Merkin Concert Hall. Lawler has given solo recitals in New York City (Merkin and CAMI Halls), Santa Barbara, Evansville, IN, Hong Kong, and her hometown of Nyack, NY. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Houston Symphony and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. She was assistant principal flute of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra for three years, and recently completed eight years as flutist with the innovative quartet Tales & Scales. With Tales & Scales, she made appearances with many orchestras, including: the Atlanta, Utah, Indianapolis, and Oregon Symphonies, and the Buffalo Philharmonic. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, the Kravis Center, TriBeca Performing Arts Center, and the Orange County Performing Arts Center.
An avid chamber musician, Lawler performs regularly with marimbist Paul J. Fadoul and the interdisciplinary chamber group Asterisk, which she co-founded. While in Hong Kong, she organized many chamber music concerts for the members of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and she spent two summers at the Marlboro School of Music. She was co-founder of the New York-based ensemble Full Fathom, and a guest artist with eighth blackbird.
Lawler began her solo career by winning a number of competitions, including the Ima Hogg Young Artist Competition, Artists' International, and the New York Flute Club. In addition, she has worked with a range of important teachers and artists in the fields of flute, classical music and interdisciplinary work. She holds a Masters degree from the Juilliard School where she studied with Carol Wincenc and Sam Baron. Her other teachers and coaches include Judith Mendenhall, Susan Rotholz and Stephen Maxym. Lawler has performed at many summer festivals including Marlboro Music, Tanglewood, Banff Festival of the Arts (Canada), Bach Aria Festival and Institute, and Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (Germany). She has collaborated with eminent and emerging composers alike, among them Randall Woolf, Jerome Kitzke, Jon Deak, Alla Borzova, and Mark Zuckerman. In addition, Lawler has created works with choreographers C. Neil Parsons, Nusha Martynuk, Gina Daumec-Flores, and with stage directors Gary Race and Michael Burnham.
A leader in the emerging field of interdisciplinary performance, Lawler’s fruitful collaboration with these choreographers, composers and stage directors has yielded new and adventurous solo and chamber concert experiences. Her solo performances, particularly showcasing the work of choreographer C. Neil Parsons, move the flute (and flutist) to a new realm, by incorporating dance, storytelling and theatrical elements into the structure of a solo recital. Lawler was the flutist and Co-Artistic Director of Tales & Scales, the innovative musictelling ensemble for children and family audiences. In her eight years with the group, she performed and co-created seven full length and several shorter works that fully integrated contemporary classical music with dance and theater, an experience described by New Music Connoisseur as “an enthrallingly visual and acoustic joy.” As a member of Asterisk, she is now bringing that signature style to the chamber music stage.
Lawler is also a dedicated educator. Through her many years performing for children and family audiences, she has developed a uniquely communicative style of playing, and of presenting her work to the audience, and all of her programs have corresponding outreach components. Lawler is a performance coach, offering musicians guidance in refining their playing with an ear to truly communicating with their audience, as well as addressing such issues as speaking to the audience, body language, and how to practice. Her blog, “The Practice Notebook,” addresses principles and techniques of good music practice. She also teaches the basics of creating and performing outreach programs to professionals and college-level students, and offers introductory workshops on interdisciplinary performing.
zara@zaralawler.com / 812-604-5363