We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Yvonne Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Yvonne, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I’ve had the privilege of working on several meaningful projects, but the one I’m most proud of is La Speranza, the chamber music ensemble I founded in 2016. La Speranza evokes the vibrant life of the past through historically informed performances, and it was born from a passion for playing chamber music on period instruments with my friends. I am an introverted person, so the process of raising money, finding a board, speaking at all the concerts, and finding potential donors was all hugely daunting to me. Over the years, however, I have gained confidence and experience. Passion and love for this ensemble and what we do has motivated me through every challenging time.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In addition to being Artistic Director and Founder of La Speranza, I am a professional violist. I play modern and historical viola all over the country. I also teach; I have a small viola studio in Houston. I am a frequent substitute in the Houston Symphony viola section. I also regularly play viola with the Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Ballet Orchestras. I play historical viola with La Speranza here in Houston as well as Ars Lyrica Houston, La Follia Austin Baroque, Lyra Baroque (St. Paul, MN) and American Bach Soloists (San Francisco, CA). Running La Speranza is something that I get to do that is extremely unique. La Speranza is the preeminent American ensemble that is dedicated exclusively to the performance of chamber music from the 18th and 19th centuries on period instruments. Period or historical instruments refers to instruments that are copies of or close to what instruments would have actually been played when the composer in question was alive. These instruments are tuned lower, have gut strings instead of steel, and the wind instruments are often made of wood instead of metal with fewer keys. No other ensemble in the US focuses primarily on bringing the Classical era of chamber music to life on period instruments the way we do!

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal as a professional musician and also as artistic director is to foster community through truly excellent performances. Sometimes people can approach these two things as though they are mutually exclusive, but I find that having one can really enhance the other with excellent musicians at the helm!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

During the pandemic, La Speranza offered monthly virtual performances. It was hard not to be able to build our audience in person, but we were able to reach people all over the country during a time when many groups were not able to perform.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.la-speranza.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/lasperanzahouston
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/lasperanzamusic
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCO_oitvSRbrGLxgNo58jamw

Image Credits
Natalie Gaynor- personal photo