We play a little bit of everything.
Kitchen Sink Pocket Orchestra is four friends, four very different instruments and a shared enthusiasm for making great music together.
Classical. Rock. Pop. Fiddle tunes. And quite a few things that probably weren’t written with violin, oboe, bassoon and double bass in mind.
So, what’s a pocket orchestra?
Think of it as an orchestra that fits in your pocket. Metaphorically, anyway. Double basses are notoriously difficult to fold.
With violin, oboe, bassoon and double bass, we have access to an enormous range of colour — from lyrical and lovely to rhythmic, ridiculous and surprisingly loud. Our repertoire pulls from classical music, rock, pop, folk and fiddle traditions, with arrangements that make the most of our decidedly unconventional lineup alongside original works written specifically for KSPO.
The small size also means we can take the music almost anywhere. We’ve performed in concert halls and intimate venues, at wineries and cideries, outdoors and in spaces where you’d never fit a full-sized orchestra.
Small ensemble. Surprisingly big sound.
How did this happen?
Long before there was a Kitchen Sink Pocket Orchestra, there were four friends who had spent years playing together in the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra.
Then 2020 happened.
Concert halls went quiet, orchestras couldn’t gather in the usual way, and musicians everywhere started figuring out what live music could look like under some very unusual circumstances. A group of four was small enough to be nimble — and violin, oboe, bassoon and double bass turned out to be a surprisingly useful combination.
We started playing together in places where live music could still happen: outdoors, at wineries and cideries, in intimate venues and for audiences who were every bit as eager to hear music as we were to make it.
What began as a practical solution turned into something we genuinely loved. The unusual instrumentation opened up all kinds of possibilities, and the repertoire kept growing. Classical music was joined by fiddle tunes, pop, rock and arrangements of things no sensible person had ever thought to put in front of this particular combination of instruments.
At some point, we stopped being four orchestra musicians playing together and became Kitchen Sink Pocket Orchestra.
We’ve been seeing what else we can get away with ever since.
IF IT WORKS WITH VIOLIN, OBOE, BASSOON AND DOUBLE BASS, WE’LL PROBABLY TRY IT.
Meet the orchestra.
Susan Aylard
Violin
Susan Aylard is an accomplished classical violinist and fiddle player whose musical career has taken her around the world. A longtime member of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, she has performed with ensembles ranging from the Sabeon Trio to Cod Gone Wild and has received the Okanagan Arts Award for Music.
Sue’s creativity extends well beyond performing. She is a talented visual artist and one of KSPO’s principal arrangers, regularly figuring out how to turn music that was definitely not written for violin, oboe, bassoon and double bass into something that somehow sounds like it was.
When she isn’t playing, arranging or creating art, Sue can usually be found having adventures with her husband and their Bernese mountain dog.
Lauris Davis
Oboe / English Horn
Lauris Davis started on trumpet in high school and dreamed of being the next Miles or Wynton, but after graduating and getting braces, the dream faded along with her embouchure. Not yet knowing the life-long drama of reed making, Lauris decided to play the oboe.
Together Lauris and her oboe got through UBC and the Vancouver Academy of Music and started freelancing throughout BC. In 2011, they won the Principal Oboe position with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra. It was there that they met the lovely and talented musicians of the fun and fabulous Kitchen Sink Pocket Orchestra!
When avoiding practicing and making reeds, Lauris can be found playing with clay or wandering aimlessly on the beach communing with nature!
Karmen Doucette
Bassoon
Karmen Doucette found the bassoon at age 14 — though it might be more accurate to say the bassoon found her. A musical kid who grew up studying piano, Karmen was handed a bassoon and never looked back.
After studying music in Calgary, Texas and Toronto, Karmen built a career as an orchestral and freelance musician before joining the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra as Principal Bassoon in 2010. She now makes her home in the Okanagan, where she performs and teaches.
Karmen loves the bassoon for its many personalities — lyrical, ridiculous, melancholy, and mischievous. KSPO gives her an excellent excuse to explore all of them, especially when the music was never intended for a bassoon in the first place.
When she’s not playing bassoon, Karmen can usually be found designing websites, drinking coffee, or getting herself involved in another project she definitely had time for.
Meaghan Williams
Double Bass
Meaghan Williams originally hails from Newfoundland and studied with renowned performers and teachers in Toronto and Germany before performing professionally in Germany, Japan and from coast-to-coast in Canada.
A believer in diversity and innovation, Meaghan enjoys working with living composers and expanding the repertoire for double bass and has premiered several new concertos in recent years.
Meaghan is also a passionate advocate for Canadian design and craftsmanship, both in her musical instruments and in her fashion choices.
When she’s not kicking ass as a bassist and arts administrator, Meaghan loves spending time outdoors, hiking, skiing and running.
Like what you see?
You should hear us.
Kitchen Sink Pocket Orchestra performs for concert series, festivals, wineries, house concerts, community events and anywhere else live music is meant to be part of the experience.