SCHUMANN, LAURA E.

Dr. Laura E. Schumann is the Music Director and Conductor of the Southeastern Ohio Symphony Orchestra (SEOSO) and Professor of music at Muskingum University. She is a 2001 recipient of an ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award, and a YMCA/YWCA Women of Achievement Award, a 2004 International Musician of the Year, and is listed in Who’s Who of American Women, in America, and in the World. She received the first 2004 Cambridge, (OH) Heritage Award for Leadership in the community and the William Rainey Harper Award for Outstanding Scholarship from Muskingum College in 2005. She was a semi-finalist in the 2003 Third International Jordania conducting competition in Kharkov, Ukraine. She has collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists Angela Cheng, Benny Kim, Joaquin Achucarro, Hakan Rosengren, Gilbert Mata, Sergiu Schwartz, Randy Sabien and the Cavani Quartet among others. Ms. Schumann has also been Music Director for the ECODT Nutcracker Ballet, has guest conducted the Mansfield, (OH), Newark-Granville (OH) Symphony, Columbus (OH) Symphony and has worked with Columbus, Spokane, and Bakersfield Symphonies. Schumann was a featured violin soloist for the Miss Ohio pageant telecast on Ohio News Network (ONN) in June 2007. An orchestral arranger and composer, Schumann's Shostakovich in Blue (2006) for strings is published by Alliance Publications, Inc. in Wisconsin. In 2011 Schumann received high acclaim from Comedian/banjoist Mr. Steve Martin for her orchestrations and world premiere of the music of nationally recognized banjoist Mr. Tony Ellis.

 

Ms. Schumann received her DMA in orchestral conducting from Texas Tech University, her Master's degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is additionally an Honors Graduate of the Recording Workshop, earning a certificate in sound and recording engineering. Previously, Ms. Schumann was director of orchestral activities at Western State College in Colorado, and Murray State University in Kentucky, Assistant Conductor at Texas Tech University, and she has held positions at Wake Forest, Salem College, and Winston Salem State University. As a conductor, Ms. Schumann has held positions and guest conducted in Colorado, including Colorado All-State, Ohio Region Honors Orchestra, as well as in Missouri, Pennsylvania, Texas, Minnesota, Tennessee, West Virginia, California, Washington, and she has toured several European countries. She has conducted several high school and middle school orchestra festivals.

 

Ms. Schumann has performed as both soloist and chamber musician in various locations across the United States and in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Ms. Schumann has performed in the presti- gious Colorado Music Festival, North Carolina, West Virginia, Key West, Wheeling, Charlotte, Memphis, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Lubbock Symphonies among others. She has performed as a soloist with the Win- ston-Salem and Jackson symphonies, and as a member of the Young Artists String Quartet (CA), and the Wexford Piano Quartet (CO). Schumann is noted for her unique and original family/ children's programs, incorporating differing musical styles, educational components, exciting visual and interactive concerts, and an out-of-the-box contemporary yet sophisticated approach to programming and audience development.