Joanne Lazzaro

Joanne Lazzaro is a world flutist, recording artist and educator based in the Los Angeles area. She describes herself as a classically trained flutist who "accidentally" released a New Age solo Native American flute album. That album, Under The Stars (2015), won multiple awards in the U.S. and internationally and sent her down an unexpected path as an independent world-flute recording artist.

She started flute lessons in public school at age 10. Her high-school band director, Lee Harrington, was a major influence on her decision to keep playing. In the early 1990s she found a Native American flute in a gift shop in Boulder, Colorado, and was hooked after a few notes. R. Carlos Nakai's Canyon Trilogy then inspired her to become a better player. She now plays piccolo, alto, bass and contrabass flutes, Native American flutes, shakuhachi, bansuri, ocarina, quena, pan flute and many others.

In 2018 she founded JoRazzal Music and released the world-premiere recording of Katherine Hoover's Canyon Shadows with her trio, Dreamcatcher. Her first production, "Searching – Desert Dawn Mix," was nominated for a 2018 Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best World Recording. The world-premiere recording of Eric V. Baum's Suite Esmerelda for Flute & Piano followed in 2021. She has also released Dolby Atmos recordings, and the video for Ashes to Ireland was nominated for a 2024 Hollywood Independent Music Award. Her improvised album Hale 'I'iwi – Songs from the Rainforest was recorded live on the Big Island of Hawai'i and earned two Global Music Silver Awards.

On the classical side, she is Principal Flute of the Beach Cities Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra. She has performed at Los Angeles Disney Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She is also a session musician for independent artists and film-makers. She founded and hosts the Los Angeles World Flute Circle and gives workshops for the National Flute Association and the World Flute Society. She holds a BS in Music from Lebanon Valley College and a Master of Music from the USC Thornton School of Music.

She teaches classical and world flutes, with lessons shaped around each student's goals, from tone and breathing to improvisation.