About
pc: nadine photography
Born and raised in Canada, Florence Mak quickly realized that she would not be able to fulfill her dream as an All-Star hockey player in the NHL, given that she has never put on a pair of hockey skates. Instead, she turned her focus to piano and has since appeared on stage throughout North America and Europe as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, and page turner. She made her debut as the featured soloist with the New Westminster Symphony at the age of ten. When the time came, she left Vancouver and moved to Toronto to further her musical studies, where she earned two scraps of paper to symbolize the completion of her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
Lacking the vocal range of a bass-baritone or the ability to circular breathe, Florence decided to live vicariously through others by way of musical collaboration. As a result, she received her doctorate in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music. Recent highlights include masquerading as one of over thirty percussionists in the great outdoors in Columbus, Ohio for John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit, as well as bringing the Hundred Acre Woods to life in Athens and the Hudson Valley.
Equally passionate about music education, Florence is the Artistic Director and a founding member of Lynx Project, a nonprofit art-song organization whose mission is to link communities with inclusive concerts and innovative educational programming. In 2017, LYNX launched their Amplify Series, dedicated to celebrating diverse voices through newly-commissioned songs.
Before meandering to Chicago with her husband and duet partner, Jeremy Vigil, she held positions as the Coordinator of Collaborative Piano at Ohio University and as a Collaborative Pianist at Bard College Conservatory of Music. In work and in life, she is an avid punster and a certified Rick-Roll enthusiast.
