Laurie Sokoloff, Piccolo

photo by Christian Colberg

Listen to Laurie's interview with Judith Krummeck

When not rehearsing or performing on stage with the BSO… I spend one hour every day exercising on my elliptical machine, I also teach flute and piccolo at Peabody and privately.  Additionally, I love to knit, cook, do photography, and spend time with friends and my two goddaughters, Eve and Anna.

If I had not chosen to become a professional musician, I would have probably become a… psychologist.

To unwind I listen to… Brahms and Mozart.  But it’s difficult to listen non-critically to classical music, so I tend to relax more with other genres, like 70’s and 80’s popular music.

In the car I mostly listen to classical FM stations.

My ring tone used to be the Chinese Danse from the Nutcracker Suite-perfect for a piccolo player!  Now it’s a Bach Chaconne.

The last book I read was… McCutchan’s biography of Marcel Moyse.

Most people would be surprised to learn… that I have been taping and watching the soap opera “Guiding Light” since I was in college.

My dream was to vacation in Maine every summer-and I do.  My sister and I own a beautiful house on the water.

The non-musical accomplishment that I am most proud of is… raising a lovely, sensitive, intelligent daughter who is beautiful on the inside as she is outside.

My guilty pleasure is… a chocolate hazelnut torte from Patisserie Poupon!

The last movie I saw was… Inside Man

To prepare for a performance… I always run through the repertoire beforehand with a chromatic tuner and a metronome.

I wanted to play the harp when I was young-my mother wanted me to study clarinet.  We compromised on flute.

In addition to the flute… I can play a little harp and very little piano.

My most embarrassing musical moment happened when… Elizabeth Rowe had accidentally left her metronome running under her chair onstage.  It became audible when the conductor entered and the welcoming applause died down.  I found it and turned it off, so everyone assumed it was mine.

An extremely positive experience I have had was… my parents were both musicians.  From the earliest age I had beautiful music in my home at all times.

A colleague once told me, “There are many different ways to play music… but, convince me!”  I think this is a profound musical truth.

If I could spend a day with any composer, it would be… Mozart!