March 4-5, 2023

University of Oklahoma School of Music

 

A vibrant musician and innovative educator, Laura Talbott- Clark is a violinist and violist equally dedicated to performing and teaching. Currently, she serves as Associate Professor of Violin at Oklahoma State University, where she was awarded the Wise-Diggs-Berry Award for excellence in the performing arts and named the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Professor by the OSU Student Council.

Dedicated to community engagement and music education, she co-founded the OSU String Academy (OSUSA) and was formerly the Director and Founder of the OSU Horizons String Chamber Music Camp and the OSU High School Summer Music Camp. Dr. Talbott-Clark has held teaching positions at the Inspiration Point Fine Arts String Camp, Meadowmount School of Music, Indian Hill Music Center, Bands and Orchestras of America Summer Symposium, and Triada Music Festival. She has served as a Member-at-Large, Special Projects Chair, Vice President, and President of the Oklahoma chapter of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA).

An avid chamber musician, Dr. Talbott-Clark is the principal violinist of Tulsa Camerata, for which she performs on both violin and viola. She has served as second violinist of the Tulsa Rock Quartet, as the principal violinist of the Janus 21 Chamber Ensemble (Boston) and performed as part of the Brightmusic Chamber Music Series (Oklahoma City), and Triada Music Festival (Ludlow, VT). Formerly, she was the Artistic Director of the Frontiers New Music Ensemble, an ensemble she co-founded. She has appeared as a recitalist throughout the United States.

Dr. Talbott-Clark has an extensive background as an orchestral musician. In the past, she has performed with the Tulsa Symphony (viola), Tulsa Ballet (viola/violin), Tulsa Opera (violin), New Hampshire Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Boston Virtuosi, Ann Arbor Symphony, Aspen Chamber Symphony, Cantata Singers Chamber Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra.

Committed to empowering artists of all mediums, Dr. Talbott-Clark's current research interests involve the intersection between mindfulness and creativity, as well as how mindfulness-based techniques can be applied to studio- and classroom-teaching.  Initially triggered by her own experiences with over-use injuries, Dr. Talbott-Clark is actively involved in educating OSU and Oklahoma string students about the biomechanics of playing the violin/viola and over-use injury prevention and rehabilitation.

Dr. Talbott-Clark received her doctorate in string performance from Boston University and holds additional degrees from Vanderbilt University (B.M.) and the University of Michigan (M.M.). Her principal teachers have included Peter Zazofsky, Paul Kantor, Christian Teal, and John Kochanowski. Dr. Talbott-Clark has spent summers at Interlochen, Meadowmount, Tanglewood, Oberlin Baroque Institute, and the Aspen Music Festival, where she was a fellowship student.Her students perform in professional orchestras and pursue graduate degrees at schools throughout the US.  In addition, many of her former students run string programs at schools throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas.