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When he retired in 2010, Lawrence Mysak, Professor Emeritus in UU直播鈥檚 Department of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, capped an illustrious and award-winning career in science and mathematics. But his research and teaching career ran parallel to another passion. Mysak is also an active musician, and has played the flute for over two decades as a member of the I Medici di UU直播 Orchestra. Recently he established the Lawrence A. Mysak Prize for Woodwinds at the Schulich School of Music, an annual undergraduate award whose first recipient will be announced in 2016.

In this photo: Schulich School of Music Dean Sean Ferguson and Prof. Lawrence Mysak

Q&A with Professor Lawrence Mysak,听passionate flutist听and long-time member of the Faculty of Science.

What brought you to music, and the flute, in the first place?

Music has been a thread running through my life. There was music in my family, and my mother encouraged me to play piano, starting when I was seven or eight. I grew up in Edmonton after the war, and when I was 12, a friend of mine was playing clarinet in the Edmonton Schoolboys Band. He told me about all the fun they had, 听going to parades and the Calgary Stampede and so forth, and he convinced me to go along with him one night. I thought I would play clarinet as well, but the band master said they had too many clarinets but needed a flute player. And that鈥檚 how I started playing the flute: by accident.听

And your flute-playing took off from there?

Yes. The son of a family friend played flute, so I started taking lessons with him to get enough experience to join the band. And I liked flute so much that I continued my lessons through high school and into university. I ended up earning a performance diploma in flute from the University of Alberta, at the same time as I received my Bachelor of Science degree. So I鈥檓 actually a professionally trained musician. Then I attended the Aspen Music School in Colorado in the summer of 1958, where I had some very fine lessons but also saw the level of flute competition across North America. I decided it would be too competitive for me, so I stayed with my science studies.

But you still play regularly. What are your current musical activities?

I鈥檝e been playing with I Medici di UU直播 Orchestra for 22 years, about forty per cent of the time as first flute and the rest as second flute, which is a bit less stressful. Over that time I鈥檝e performed a few solo pieces as well as a couple of concertos 鈥� not by myself, of course, but with others. When my wife died in 2011, I played the Dance of the Blessed Spirits, the famous piece from Gluck鈥檚 Orpheus and Eurydice.听

I鈥檝e enjoyed having music in my life very much. Since retiring I鈥檝e played about a dozen recitals at various senior residences with a pianist, Marc-Olivier Brault, a graduate student friend studying climate change at UU直播 who also studied piano at the Toronto Conservatory.听

We play classical music that鈥檚 appreciated by a broad audience. With I Medici di UU直播, we perform classical romantic pieces, not too much modern stuff. But I love Beethoven, Brahms, and we do the range from Haydn and Mozart to Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, even Tchaikovsky symphonies, which can be quite challenging. I love them all. Last Christmas I was playing first flute in the Nutcracker Suite, which has some challenging flute passages. I did OK, although not up to Timothy Hutchins (Associate Professor of flute at the Schulich School of Music and 听Principal flute with OSM)听standards. But I had fun.听

You were the founding Director of the UU直播 Centre for Global Change Research (now the Global Environment and Climate Change Centre) and have established yourself as a leading researcher on climate change. What is the connection between your life as a scientist and your musical endeavours?听

I was trained in math and physics, and was a math professor for 19 years at the University of British Columbia before coming to UU直播. So I was a math professor from the mid-1960s through the mid-80s, when I switched to Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. I have always had a practical bent in my research, and was interested in fluid mechanics 鈥� the flow of atmosphere and oceans 鈥� so that鈥檚 how I got into climate change research. In math and physics you study elegant structures, forms, and details, and that鈥檚 the common thread with music. Math has a beauty and elegance, and many mathematicians are also musicians, because they also love the beauty and elegance of music鈥檚 forms and structures. So music and math have that in common.听

What advice would you give to someone trying to choose between a career in music and one in science?

Unless you are really good, it is very difficult to succeed at the top level as a professional musician. Especially as a flautist! There are many violins and cellos in an orchestra, but only one first flute, one second flute, and maybe a piccolo. So unless you really excel, it鈥檚 a tough job. When I was about thirteen, I had to choose between playing flute in the band or playing hockey, because band practice was conflicting with hockey games. And my father gave me some advice: he said 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e thirty or forty, do you think you鈥檒l still be playing hockey? You could still be playing the flute.鈥� He was right! I didn鈥檛 think I鈥檇 still be playing flute at the level I am today, though, in my seventies 鈥� I still have quite a good embouchure and good tone. I鈥檓 not as accomplished as I was 50 years ago, or even 30 years ago, but I鈥檓 still having fun.

Life is to be enjoyed, and having different interests gives you more pleasure. As well as being involved with music and science, I do some volunteer work, play some sports, play bridge, and promote public lectures in cutting edge sciences. I try to live a full life.听

Why did you establish the Lawrence A. Mysak Prize for Woodwinds?

I鈥檝e received many awards and honours over the years, so it鈥檚 nice to be in a position to give back a little bit by recognizing other people and encouraging them. I鈥檝e enjoyed many concerts at the Schulich School of Music, and I even used to play bridge with a former dean, Richard Lawton, so I feel quite connected with the School. So I thought it would be nice to establish a prize in music at UU直播, and woodwinds was the natural field.听

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