Laurel has created and directed ensembles with people of all ages, primarily in Ohio and Pennsylvania as well as Bremen, Germany, since her arts career began in the mid-1980s. Trained classically as a singer and arts manager with graduate studies in music history, she has conducted diverse choral and instrumental ensembles but also worked as a singer, flutist, music educator, and composer, resulting in a well-rounded approach to leading musicians. In April 2025 she conducted Michael John Trotta’s Requiem with an 18-piece orchestra and 50-voice ecumenical choir in response to the composer’s invitation have her choir join three others to perform its premiere in Carnegie Hall in New York City under his baton. In 2026, Laurel will lead twenty-seven singers from that same ecumenical choir in a concert tour in Italy as well as ensuring her choir is performance-ready to sing in an ensemble under Dr. Trotta’s direction.
Major works Laurel has conducted include John Stainer’s oratorio The Crucifixion; Trotta’s Requiem and his Seven Last Words. Vivaldi’s Credo (RV 591) for choir, organ and strings and Bob Chilcott’s A Little Jazz Mass (large choir and jazz ensemble) will be presented in 2026. She has conducted adult and teen choirs since 2011. Trained classically as a singer and arts manager with additional studies in music history, and currently active as a flutist in multiple ensembles, her knowledge of classical styles and her teaching heart inform her approach to conducting. She has envisioned, planned, and conducted numerous ensembles, weaving together renaissance, baroque, classical, contemporary and ethnic music and hymnody with dance and other art forms.
Laurel has an energetic style that attracts and equally engages advanced performers and musicians with limited musical backgrounds and experience. Her success speaks volumes about the desire to provide meaningful musical experiences for every participant, helping them to discover and create beauty so they can bless their audiences. She lives in State College, Pennsylvania, with her husband Graham.
“I have been fortunate to sing a variety of Masses/Requiems under different conductors, always with a focus on pronunciation and diction, and with a translation available to the singers. But you are the first to ensure that your singers understood the meaning of words in context, and to ensure that we delivered the meaning behind the words in our vocal expression (not just pronunciation and consonants).
Your interpretation (marriage of music and text) made our singing during our Lenten service feel very personal and spiritual--something I believe we communicated to the congregation. I'm deeply appreciative for that experience.”
-a chorister from the Lenten Ecumenical Choir of State College , May 2025, following our preparation of Michael John Trotta‘s Requiem