Laura Kobayashi is a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist and teacher currently living in

northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

. She has performed in orchestras, chamber groups, and as a soloist.

Career

Education

Laura Kobayashi is a graduate of the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

, having studied under

Dorothy DeLay Dorothy DeLay (March 31, 1917 – March 24, 2002) was an American violin instructor, primarily at the Juilliard School, Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Cincinnati. Life Dorothy DeLay was born on March 31, 1917, in Medicine Lodg ...

. She went on to

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

for her graduate degree and in 1995 received her

Doctor of Musical Arts The Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) is a doctoral academic degree in music. The DMA combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually music performance, music composition, or conducting) with graduate-level academic study in ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Chamber music

Kobayashi has been a part of many chamber groups, including the Kobayashi/Gray Duo with pianist Susan Keith Gray. Kobayashi also plays in the Polaris Piano Trio and the Main Street Chamber Players in

Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...

Teaching

Kobayashi is one of the founding members of the Main Street Music Studios in Fairfax, Virginia, where she also teaches.

Kobayashi/Gray Duo

In 1993 the Kobayashi/Gray Duo won the USIA Artistic Ambassador audition, which led them touring through

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. The duo is known for playing music of 19th-21st century women composers. The mission of the group is to find and play new and lost music by women composers. The duo has shared their experiences at the

American String Teachers Association The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) is a professional organization for bowed string music teachers based in the United States. It is the largest organization in the U.S. for string teachers. ASTA serves teachers and students in all are ...

conventions, the International Festival of Women Composers, and other important meetings.

Awards

Laura Kobayashi has received many awards including the VASTA (Virginia State Chapter of ASTA) Outstanding String Teacher Award and the Excellence in Teaching Award by the Division of Music and College of Creative Arts at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

Performances

One of Kobayashi's more recent performances was at

Northern State University Northern State University (NSU) is a public university in Aberdeen, South Dakota. NSU is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents and offers 45 bachelor's degrees, 53 minors, six associate degrees, 16 pre-professional programs, 23 certifi ...

where the Kobayashi/Gray duo performed in Krikac Auditorium in April 2018. As a member of the Polaris Piano Trio Kobayashi performed on November 4, 2018. The performance consisted of chamber works by

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...

and David Baker.

Albums

''Feminissimo! Women Playing Music by Women''

In 2008 the Kobayashi/Gray Duo released an album titled ''Feminissimo! Women Playing Music by Women''. The album consists of nine Romantic and contemporary works, four of which are premiered works written by women composers

Elisenda Fábregas Elisenda Fábregas (born 1955 in Terrassa, Province of Barcelona, Spain) is a Spanish/American Composer. Biography Fábregas studied piano at the Conservatory of Barcelona until 1978. She came to the USA and studied for her bachelor's and maste ...

Emma Lou Diemer Emma Lou Diemer (born November 24, 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American composer. Diemer has written many works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, keyboard, voice, chorus, and electronic media. Diemer is a keyboard performer and over ...

Anna Priscilla Risher Anna Priscilla Risher (November 2, 1875 - August 29, 1946) was an American composer, organist, pianist, later a painter as well. Early life A native of Dravosburg, Pennsylvania, Risher first studied music with William Wallace Gilchrist and Ale ...

, and

Signe Lund Signe Lund-Skabo (15 April 1868 – 6 April 1950) was a Norwegians, Norwegian composer and music teacher. Biography Signe Lund was born in Oslo, Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. She was the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Henrik Louis Bull Lund (1 ...

. The music on the album has a wide range of heritages, including Spanish, French, Norwegian, American, Polish, and Czech. The album includes many special composers including Florence Beatrice Price (1887-1953), whose symphony was the first to be performed by a major orchestra as a woman African-American composer. Price's piece on the album is titled ''The Deserted Garden'' and can be described as sounding like a hymn.

References

External links

Laura Kobayashi
at Main Street Music Studios
Kobayashi-Gray Duo

Polaris Piano Trio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobayashi, Laura Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Juilliard School alumni University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni Yale University alumni 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century American women musicians 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century American women musicians Albany Records artists 20th-century American violinists 21st-century American violinists American women violinists