Cellist Laura Metcalf lives in New York, where she engages herself in as many musical activities as time will allow. Active as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, and teacher, she is a versatile musician who is always expanding her musical boundaries.
Laura received her Master of Music degree in May 2006 from the Mannes College of Music, where she studied with Timothy Eddy and was awarded the James E. Hughes award for excellence in performance. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Boston University's College of Fine Arts, where, as recipient of the prestigious Trustee Scholarship, she was a student of Michael Reynolds and winner of the 2003 Solo Bach Competition.
Laura devotes much of her musical focus to performing chamber music. She has recently
joined the Sybarite Chamber Players, a unique string ensemble dedicated to eclectic programming and bringing about new works specifically written for the group. With pianist Monica Chung, she has attended the 2008 International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, and has given recitals at the Shandelee Music Festival and Faust-Harrison Pianos in New York. She is a member of Ten O’Clock Classics, a collective of soloists committed to classical music performance and outreach, with whom she toured during the 2007-2008 season. She is also the newest member of the Tarab Cello Ensemble, a group of 8 cellists with whom she will appear in the upcoming season. She has appeared as a guest artist with the Elysium Chamber Ensemble at the Tenri Institute, and on the Festival Chamber Music series at Merkin Concert Hall. She has also performed chamber music in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Chateau de Fontainebleau in France, the French Consulate of New York, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute, and many others.
As a member of the Stella Piano Trio from 2006-2007, she gave her New York recital debut in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in November 2006. The trio also performed at Detroit’s Max Fisher Orchestra Hall and the J.P. Morgan Library, and collaborated with the New York Composers Circle and the South Oxford Six composer collective. The Stella Trio participated in the 2007 ARD International Competition in Munich, Germany, where they advanced to the quarterfinal round.
In October 2007, Laura gave her New York concerto debut with the Stella Trio and the Ensemble 212 Orchestra performing Beethoven's Triple Concerto, and in March of 2007 was a semi-finalist in the 2007 Hudson Valley Philharmonic Competition. In 2005, she was selected to perform at the opening meeting of the New York Violoncello Society in a masterclass for Bernard Greenhouse, and has also played in masterclasses for Ronald Leonard, Paul Katz, Steven Doane, Norman Fischer, Colin Carr, Pamela Frank, and others.
During the summers, Laura has performed at the Taos, Sarasota, Aspen, and Round Top (Texas) Music Festivals, the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau (France), the Mannes Beethoven Institute, and the Quartet Program at Bucknell University.
As an orchestral musician, Laura was recently appointed assistant principal cellist of the Chamber Orchestra of New York, which gave its inaugural concert in Zankel Hall in October 2007. From 2005-present, she has appeared numerous times in Michael Tilson Thomas's New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida.
Laura also ventures outside the classical realm. With singer-songwriter Graham Colton, she has appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and the Today Show, and has performed numerous times with Donna Summer. She has also appeared with various artists and bands around New York at the Cutting Room, Rockwood Music Hall, and the Living Room, among others, and was part of the onstage band in the new musical "The Piper" in the 2007 New York Musical Theatre Festival.
In addition to performing, Laura is a dedicated teacher. She serves on the faculties of Opus 118 Harlem School of Music (through which she also teaches group cello lessons at PS 129 in West Harlem) and the Island Arts Music Center on Roosevelt Island, and enthusiastically maintains a private studio of students of all ages.