Biography
A bassoonist based in Boston, Laura Reyes is a freelance musician, Arts Administrator, and arts advocate. Laura graduated from the University of Connecticut where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Music. In her time at UConn, she was a member several chamber ensembles but performed most frequently in the University of Connecticut Wind Ensemble and Symphony orchestra. In 2014, she traveled to Carnegie Hall with the Wind Ensemble, premiering Sound and Smoke: I. (feudal castle lights) by Viet Cuong, and Mothership by Mason Bates. Other notable highlights include premiering and recording Kevin Walczyk's Symphony No. 3: Quintet Matinee with the Atlantic Brass Quintet (published by Sony Records), performing in the American premiere of Justin Dello Joio's one-act opera, Blue Mountain, and performing Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw's Partita for 8 Singers with her a cappella ensemble, Roomful of Teeth, arranged for wind ensemble accompaniment by student composers. Apart from classical experience, Laura was also a regular member of the University Collegium Musicum, where she was featured on krumhorn, dolcien, rackett, soprano and bass recorders. Additionally, she was a member of the University of Connecticut Marching Band where she was a sousaphone section member, Section Leader, and Senior Class Representative.
Laura attended the Longy School of Music at Bard College, receiving her Masters in Music for Bassoon Performance. There, she was privileged to participate in a Masterclass with Boston Symphony Orchestra Assistant Principal Thomas Siders. She also taught and performed frequently; her most notable experiences were performing under the batons of Gustavo Dudamel and Thomas Wilkins with the El Sistema "Side-by-Side" Orchestra as a performer and Teaching Artist, and producing and soloist in "Entartete Musik", a performance focused on degenerate music and art as banned by the Third Reich.
Currently, in addition to freelancing, she is the Program Officer for Arts & Creativity at The Boston Foundation. Previously, she was a Career Center Advisor at the Berklee College of Music Career Center, and the Grants Program Manager in the Entrepreneurship Department at New England Conservatory, all focusing on career services for conservatory students as well as liaising with community internships for students, career advising, and general department administration. While at Berklee, she was a member of the JED Campus Team prioritizing student body mental health, and at NEC, she was a member of the President's Advisory Council for Cultural Equity & Belonging.
She is a grant writer for INTERWOVEN, with recently authored proposals named as a finalist for the Chamber Music America Commissioning Grant, and winning the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement Grant for 2023, and additionally consults on grants for Either/Or.