Laura Sullivan

from http://www.laura-sullivan.com/bio.html Laura Sullivan is a pianist, composer, and recording artist whose original New Age and Contemporary Instrumental music is distributed internationally. Her six albums have been signed to record labels including Northstar Music and Orange Music, and are also available on her independent label, Sentient Spirit Records with retail distribution through New Leaf and digital distribution through IODA. Her new release, Love's River, includes Laura's piano music and the talents of the great flugelhorn and trumpet player Jeff Oster (winner of Echoes, NAR Lifestyle, and Independent Music Awards, and ZMR record of the year 2011), Grammy Award winning artist Nancy Rumbel (of Tingstad and Rumbel), virtuoso cello player Eugene Friesen (member of the Paul Winter Consort), acclaimed oboe and English horn player Jill Haley, and four pieces produced by Grammy Award winning artist and founder of legendary Windham Hill Records, Will Ackerman, who also performs on the selection title Blessed from the album. Laura enjoys a publishing deal with one of the largest private production companies for music in film and television, where she composes underscore for shows seen on CBS, NBC, Fox and Sony. Laura's music appears in TV, film and commercials, including a recent Hyundai ad with voice over by Jeff Bridges, and an infomercial for Everyday Paleo. Her music is also featured in the Emmy Award Winning documentary "Walk into the Wild: Spirit of Itasca" and the Emmy Award Winning documentary "The Greatest Silent Sport", which was also awarded at the Fargo Film Festival. She composed original music for the film "Valentines Day Special" (starring Jon Polito). She also performed the music for the track "Sleepwalking on a Tightrope" written by Roy Finch for the movie "Wake." She was the composer for the feature film "Emotions" directed by Gio Vitelle which premiered at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival. She also composed and produced original music for the short film Nine and A Half Minutes Left directed by Gunther Thallinger. Her music can be found on Amazon.com, iTunes, Rhapsody, Pandora, and charts in frequent rotation on Music Choice, and many other digital and retail stores on and offline. Her discography receives airplay on radio stations around the world. Her albums have charted in the top 15 on New Age/Zone reporter. Her release, Mystical America, was named #1 New Age Album of 2004 by, Wind and Wire. Laura is a member of the piano artist collective Whisperings Solo Piano Radio founded by composer, pianist and radio programmer, David Nevue. This artist community promotes through its radio station and concert tours with artists including David Nevue, Scott D. Davis, Suzanne Ciani, David Lanz, Wayne Gratz, and Robin Spielberg. Ms. Sullivan was chosen as a featured artist on a TV Pilot, Music Across America, produced by legendary Jazz artist, Stanley Clarke. Her releases Mystical America and Pianoscapes for the Trails of North America were produced by acclaimed artist Chris Camozzi, (appearing with artists Jeff Lorber, Michael Bolton, Maria Carey, Barbara Streisand and many others). Some of the wonderful artists who have performed with Laura on her albums are Diane Grubbe (flute), Mary Pitchford (violin), Noel Jewkes (saxophone), and Anthony Blea (violin). Laura's debut album, Piano Solos, includes several selections of music she performed written by film composer, Roy Finch. In 2011, Laura authored the ground breaking piano teaching technique, Born Virtuosos: The Innovative Piano Course, as well as the book and CD by the same title. This method uses playful techniques to train young children to play like virtuosos, and learn to read music quickly. Laura holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music with an emphasis in Piano Performance. She is the recipient of the Emily A. Hauss Music Award and the Jane Bowman Jewett Music Award. Laura also holds a Master’s Degree in Psychology through the School of Education from the University of San Francisco. She has further graduate training from the New School in New York City. Growing up on a farm in Northern California near the foothills of Mt. Lassen, Laura’s mother was children’s book author Carol Purdy, who is best known for her books Least of All, Mrs. Merriwether’s Musical Cat, and Iva Dunnit and the Big Wind. Carol was also Laura’s first piano teacher and started teaching her to play when Laura was four years old. Laura is also the author of several musicals for children which were produced by her group called “Star Company Children’s Theater.” She lives with her husband, Eric, and their young daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a member of the National Association of Recording Industry Professionals and a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammys). Her music publications are represented by BMI. Official Website: http://www.laura-sullivan.com Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.