Lauren Smee is a violinist, personal trainer, and Body Mapping Educator based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Lauren is passionate about sharing the joys of music and movement with her students, clients, and audiences. She is fascinated by the connections between mind and body and this infuses her work in both music and fitness. Her goal is to aid her students in developing a healthy relationship with the violin and to support her clients in developing a healthy relationship to exercise and their own bodies.
As a performer, Lauren is a long-time member of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Together with fellow NSO violinist Carole Bestvater, Lauren co-founded the Isabella Project an initiative that celebrates the music that deserves to be prioritized more in the classical music world. The Isabella Project creates concert events with educational components for all ages centred around the music of women and composers of colour, in venues such as the Battery Cafe and the Cape St. Mary’s Performance Series. During the COVID-19 pandemic they participated in Tuckamore Cares, a project creating video performances for long-term care residents. An increasingly avid fiddler, Lauren plays in the band Sooky Couch Girls, with Sarah Hansen, Emily Hunt, and Meghan McCarthy.
An active and enthusiastic teacher, Lauren enjoys running a private studio and teaching with the Suzuki Talent Education Program of St. John’s, where she served as Artistic Director from 2014 – 2016 and co-Artistic Director from 2021-2023. She has frequently been on faculty at the Newfoundland and Labrador Suzuki Institute and in 2017-2018 Lauren was the Project Coordinator of Memorial University’s Chamber Music for Youth program. Lauren’s private violin studio has become increasingly active in the St. John’s community, performing regularly at local retirement homes, and creating Moods & Myths, an album of student improvisations as part of RPM Challenge.
Whether on stage or in the studio Lauren is passionate promoting healthy movement. As a licensed Body Mapping Educator she educates musicians on how accurate information about the body in movement can enhance both music pedagogy and musical ability as well as prevent injury. Lauren has taught Body Mapping at Memorial University of Newfoundland School of Music in collaboration with colleague Gabriela Sanchez, and has taught Body Mapping for children at the Suzuki Talent Education Program and Strong Harbour Strings. During the summers Lauren enjoys teaching online Body Mapping courses for musicians around the world.
Lauren’s interest in learning about the body developed into an interest in fitness as she noticed the connections between her mental health and physical activity level, particularly following the birth of her child. As a Certified Personal Trainer (CanFitPro) Lauren is passionate about functional fitness and supporting her clients in performing their everyday activities with ease, comfort and enjoyment and making exercise a sustainable part of their lives so they can feel strong and resilient, both mentally and physically. Lauren has pursued specialized training in Active Aging (completed 2024), and Pregnancy & Postpartum Corrective Exercises (in progress 2024), and enjoys incorporating her Body Mapping training into her fitness work with musicians.
Lauren holds degrees from Wilfrid Laurier University (Honours B.Mus) and Memorial University of Newfoundland (M.Mus in Violin Performance/Pedagogy) and is grateful to her principal violin teachers, Dr. Nancy Dahn, Jerzy Kaplanek, and May Ing, her Body Mapping teacher Jennifer Johnson, and her Personal Training mentor Juanita Koo.
Lauren Smee Events
