BIOGRAPHY
Laura Gamboa (she/her/hers) is a Colombian American violinist, educator, and scholar. Gamboa began her violin studies at age four with Dr. Kari Gunderson, co-founder of the Suzuki Association of Ohio. She decided to pursue music in high school after playing the viola in a string quartet with good friends and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in violin performance at the University of Southern California under Martin Chalifour, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Gamboa received her bachelor’s degrees in violin performance and music theory as well as a minor in Eurhythmics (the study of rhythm) from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). At CIM, she studied with David Updegraff, Joan Kwuon, and Timothy Cutler. Afterward, she completed her master’s degree in violin performance as a fellowship recipient from the University of Michigan, where she also completed a specialist segree in violin performance and a master’s degree in chamber music. She studied with Aaron Berofsky and Kathryn Votapek, and received chamber music instruction from Martin Katz, Matt Albert, and Amy Cheng. At USC, she studies chamber music with Kevin Fitz-Gerald, professor of keyboard collaborative arts, jazz violin with Professor David Arnay, and viola with Professor Karen Dreyfus. Gamboa is certified in books one through four of the Suzuki violin method and is a violin teaching instructor for the USC music minor program.
Gamboa has performed widely as a soloist and as an ensemble musician. She has given the world premieres of works by Henryk de Wolfe Golden, Yanchen Ye, Lisa Bielawa, and Steven Hewitt, and performed in masterclasses for Hilary Hahn, Ani Kavafian, Arnold Steinhardt, and Catherine Cho. She performed with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra and the Contemporary Directions Ensemble at Michigan as well as Edge contemporary ensemble at USC. A passionate scholar of music, Gamboa has grappled with subjects ranging from Schenkerian analysis, medieval musicology, and music of the 20th century to music of the Beatles, Jazz between the wars, Latinx music in the U.S., and gender and sexuality in ethnomusicology. Her music theory bachelor’s degree culminated in a thesis and lecture on Schenkerian structure in a vocal piece by Brahms. At Michigan, she gave presentations entitled “Queering the Violin Recital” and “Popularization of Salsa: Fania All Stars.” In addition, she was employed by CIM and the University of Michigan as a music theory tutor.
Gamboa attended the Aspen Music Festival and School for seven summers (2014-19, 2022), studying with famed teachers Naoko Tanaka, Sylvia Rosenberg, Paul Kantor, and Cornelia Heard. She received the New Horizons fellowship in 2022. At Aspen, Gamboa studied orchestral performance intensely, playing in several leadership positions, including assistant concertmaster. Notable conductors with whom she has performed include Robert Spano, Rafael Payare, Leonard Slatkin, and Marin Alsop. Gamboa served as a substitute violinist for the New World Symphony and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. Notable concerts with the New World Symphony include a performance with Peter Oundjian, former conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and a baroque-oriented week with Bernard Labadie, music director of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. In her free time, Gamboa likes to sketch, binge comedy TV, and cuddle with her cat Lily.