Laura Talbott

A vibrant musician and innovative educator, Laura Talbott is a violinist and violist equally dedicated to performing and teaching. She is Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at Oklahoma State University, where she was named the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Professor by the OSU Student Council in 2007. Dr. Talbott has held teaching positions at the Meadowmount School of Music, Indian Hill Music Center, Bands and Orchestras of America Summer Symposium, Triada Music Festival, and Boston University. In addition, she maintains a studio of pre-college violinists and violists. Dr. Talbott runs the annual Horizons String Chamber Music Camp, an event that attracts high school string players from Oklahoma and neighboring states. She is currently President-Elect of the Oklahoma chapter of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) and previously served as an elected Member-at-Large. Dr. Talbott received her doctorate in string performance from Boston University as a student of Peter Zazofsky. She holds additional degrees from Vanderbilt University (B.M., summa cum laude) and the University of Michigan (M.M.). Her principal teachers have included Peter Zazofsky, Paul Kantor, Christian Teal, and John Kochanowski. Dr. Talbott has spent summers at Interlochen, Meadowmount, Tanglewood, and the Aspen Music Festival, where she was a fellowship student.
An avid chamber musician, she served as the principal violinist of the Janus 21 Chamber Ensemble of Boston. Dr. Talbott has performed as part of the Brightmusic Chamber Music Series (Oklahoma City), Mannes Conservatory’s annual Beethoven Institute (NYC), Triada Music Festival (Ludlow, VT) and Tulsa Brown Bag-It Recital Series. In addition, Dr. Talbott is the Artistic Director of the Frontiers New Music Ensemble, an ensemble she founded along with colleague Dr. Paul Popiel. Dr. Talbott has appeared as a recitalist throughout the mid-west, southeast, and northeast United States.
Dr. Talbott has an extensive background as an orchestral musician, having performed with the New Hampshire Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Boston Virtuosi, Ann Arbor Symphony, Aspen Chamber Symphony, Cantata Singers Chamber Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra.
Equally interested in the scholarly aspects of performance, music education, and the creative process, Dr. Talbott has presented lectures at the American String Teachers Association National Convention (2007; 2009) and the Maryland Music Educators Association State Convention (2008). Her 2007 ASTA presentation resulted in a feature article in Strings magazine’s “Strings 101” column (“From Croak to Croon” compiled by James Reel; October 2007, No. 152). In 2007, Dr. Talbott organized a two-day seminar featuring San Francisco-based creativity coach and author, Dr. Eric Maisel. The workshop, entitled “Coaching the Artist Within,” attracted artists from all disciplines and provided them with ways to connect more deeply to their art.
Initially triggered by her own experiences with overuse-injuries, Dr. Talbott is actively involved in educating OSU and Oklahoma string students about the biomechanics of playing the violin/viola and over-use injury prevention and rehabilitation. She has participated in the Ithaca College Healthy Musician Symposium and is working toward certification as an Andover Educator. In 2005, Dr. Talbott organized a three-day workshop at OSU featuring Andover Educator Chairperson, Dr. Amy Likar. Dr. Likar worked with OSU students, members of the Stillwater community, and OU students to increase awareness of the biomechanics of string playing.

Dr. Talbott is a member of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), Music Educators National Committee (MENC), Oklahoma Music Educators Association (OMEA), and Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.