Music has been a part of Laura’s life since she first picked up a violin aged 3. Inspired by the commitment and passion of both her and Nicola’s first teacher, Brenda Smith, she has dedicated her career to the education of the next generation of musicians and is delighted to be a part of founding team of the Benedetti Foundation. 

Initially working as Education Director of the Foundation, Laura ran the very first Benedetti Sessions including developing the content in close partnership with Nicola as well as managing the logistics of the Sessions. She also established new educational partnerships across the country and initiated cross-sector advocacy meetings with Nicola.

 Laura became Foundation Director in April 2020 and is now responsible for the management and day-to-day running of the Foundation, overseeing and developing its annual programme of activities, including the Benedetti Sessions, Virtual Sessions and further events throughout the year, and for fundraising and finance. She also leads on educational partnerships and works closely with Nicky on the long-term vision and strategy of the Foundation.

After studying music at the University of Leeds and a Postgraduate Diploma in Performance at the Royal Northern College of Music, Laura trained as a primary teacher. It was here as a class teacher she witnessed first-hand the variable place music holds has both within a school’s curriculum and the lottery of whether or not children are able to access high quality classroom music and instrumental tuition.

As an violin and viola teacher, Laura has taught privately and in schools since 2007 and shortly after leaving the primary classroom in 2012, she founded a strings training programme, the Oasby Music Group. Its aim was to provide the opportunity for young string players to play chamber music together from the moment they begin to learn to play. Her students went on to have many successes including being the only state educated chamber ensemble to reach the finals and to win the Pro Corda Chamber Music Competition three years in a row, to win the overall performance trophy at Grantham Music Festival five times and more recently they went on their first tour to Europe. They have also worked with internationally renowned musicians including Nicola Benedetti, Wynton Marsalis, Leonard Elschenbroich, Tasmin Little and baroque violinist Penelope Spencer.

Laura has been running large scale workshops for many years. For 15 years she worked with the National Children’s Orchestras of Great Britain, having once been a member, most recently as Regional Orchestra Coordinator (Northerlies) and Course Manager for their residential courses. Laura is a founding Trustee of the Music Education Partnership Group (MEPG) in Scotland.