ESO 101: Stephanie Morin

Meet Stephanie Morin, assistant principal flute player for the ESO since September 2018. Originally from Montréal, Stephanie attended McGill University and the Montréal Conservatory of Music. Stephanie enjoys coming up with new recipes, knitting, reading and practicing her flute, of course!

When was your earliest recital and what did you play?
The first real recital I played for was a chamber music concert with my parents (Gerald Morin, cello; and Sylvia Bruns, piano). I was 16, and I played the Sonata in e minor by Handel, and the Godard Suite de trois morceaux.

How long have you been with the ESO?
This is my first season!

How many instruments do you know how to play?
Mostly the flute, alto flute, and the piccolo, but also some piano and a little ukulele.

What is your musical guilty pleasure?
I don’t feel guilty about any music I listen to! Depending on how I’m feeling, it could be anything from Charles Mingus to Brahms to Taylor Swift.

What was the last song/piece of music you listened to?
Brahms - String Sextet No.1, Op.18.

What would your DJ name be?
DJ SpicyGoma.

Who would be your partner on the Amazing Race?
My sister, Celia!

What is your pre-concert ritual?
Nap in the afternoon, dinner, go over any tricky spots in the music, and then chat with my colleagues until it’s time to go onstage.

What's something people might not know about you?
Flute is not my favourite instrument to listen to! I much prefer listening to voice or piano (usually both together).

What is your favourite sports team or player?
Montréal Canadiens

How many different cities have you lived in?
Just two: Montréal and Edmonton.

What is your favourite city (or a country) you’ve travelled and why?
Besides Montréal, I think I would say New York is my favourite city! It has so much history and I love walking down the streets knowing that Leonard Bernstein or Tchaikovsky might have walked in the exact same place so many years ago.

Do you have a nickname?
Stirfry-nie or Stirfry for short.

What is your favourite orchestra other than the ESO?
Montréal Symphony Orchestra.

What do you do in your free time?
Bake bread, knit, read, and a lot of yoga.

What food would be on your rider as a rock star?
Cheese!

On-Pause Edition

What keeps you busy while you are isolating at home?
Mostly practicing and brainstorming projects to keep playing and sharing music while physically distancing, but I’m also learning new things about food - how to make pasta from scratch and how to ferment things like kimchi.

What is the best part about being at home and/or working from home?
I can experiment with new foods and different methods of making sourdough bread.

What is the hardest part about being at home and/or working from home?
The hardest part is not being able to perform music with all of my wonderful colleagues. To me, the best part of being a musician is the connection you get by playing together with other people, so I miss it a lot.

Rapid Fire section

Coffee or tea?
Tea

Pancakes or waffles?
Pancakes

Facebook or Instagram?
Instagram

Coke or Pepsi?
Ginger Ale

Cats or dogs?
Cats

Dine-in or take-out?
Dine-in

Apple or Android?
Apple

PC or Mac?
Mac

Morning or Night?
Lunchtime

Call or text?
Call

Beethoven or Mozart?
Mozart

Schubert or Dvořák?
Schubert songs, Dvořák symphonies

Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninoff?
Tchaikovsky

Book or movie?
Book

Mountains or ocean?
Ocean

Wine or beer?
Wine

Star Wars or Star Trek?
Star Wars

Musical or opera?
Both