For over five years, the Lake Effect Duet has dazzled the
Chicago area with a vast repertoire and stylish precision. Whether
performing relaxing music to underlay the excitement of
a wedding day, or playing a tango to invigorate and entertain an
audience, Ms. Sopata and Ms. Lake both enjoy combining their
talents.
Kim Sopata has performed numerous times with the Charlotte Symphony
Orchestra, the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Milwaukee
Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Philharmonic, the CUBE
Ensemble, and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, among others. In
addition, she has appeared as soloist with the Colorado Springs
Youth Symphony and the South Carolina Philharmonic.
A dedicated chamber musician, her award-winning flute-guitar
collaboration "The Avanti Duo" was founded in 1993
and continues to perform at numerous events throughout the
Chicago Area. She also can be heard frequently in concert with
her woodwind quintet, The Sapphire Winds. Her commitment to
performing the works of living composers has led to several
premiere performances, including the world-premiere
performance and recording of Exursión a la Montaña, by
Mexican-born composer Jose Elizondo.
She began her studies in
Cambridge, England with flutist Gavin Tate and went on to study
with Dr. Pamela Jackson Youngblood and Milwaukee Symphony's
principal flutist, Jeani Foster. She received her Bachelor's
Degree in Flute Performance with honors from Northwestern
University, where she studied with Chicago Symphony Orchestra
flutists Walfrid Kujala and Richard Graef. She has performed in
master classes with Paula Robison, Jim Walker, Carol Wincenc,
Marco Granados, Jeanne Baxtresser, Amy Porter, and Robert
Langevin, among others.
Ms. Sopata has always had
a fascination with music traditions of other cultures. This
passion led her to complete a M.A. in Ethnomusicology with an
emphasis in Arabic Music from Bethel University. (St. Paul, MN).
She began studying the Egyptian nay several years ago, and her
teachers have included Dr. Ali Jihad Racy, Dr. Scott Marcus, and Bassam Saba. In 2004 she also began collaborating with
Hicham Chami, a Moroccan-born qanun player, cellist Kinan Abou-Afach, and
percussionist Douglas Brush. This unique combination became the
Mosaic Ensemble and led to performances throughout the U.S. at
venues such as the The Kennedy Center, White House, The U.N.
Building, NYC's Symphony Space, and before HRH Queen Rania of
Jordan.