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Sometimes it all starts with an idea….

Leonard E. Lopatin was in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as third flute and piccolo when he had an idea, the kind of idea that just wouldn’t let go. He wondered if giving a straight edge to each tone hole on a flute would make a difference in its tonal production.

Up until this time, Lopatin had followed the “normal” career path for a professional flutist. A native of New York City, he began playing the flute at the age of twelve and went on to study with Harold Bennett at the Manhattan School of Music. Later he studied with Arthur Lora at the Juilliard School, earning his Bachelor of Music degree in flute performance in May, 1976, winning the Met audition just a month before graduation.

Then that idea came to him while on tour with the Met: square tone holes. Could that possibly make a difference?

Finally, he left the Opera in 1979 and set out to learn flute making with the goal of making his own contributions to the improvement of the flute.

He trained with one of the Boston area’s top flute companies, where he worked for fifteen years, before founding Lopatin Flute Company in 1994. His extensive experience as a flutist and high skills as a flute maker were now forged into one unified force. In 2002, he moved his company from the Boston area to Asheville, North Carolina.

Lopatin Flutes and head joints are now being played in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Mr. Lopatin has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, and the Opera Company of Boston, among others. He has recently retired from the position of second flute in the Asheville Symphony. For more detailed information, visit our Articles page.