Biography
Laura Spitzer is a Professor of Piano at New Mexico State University. Prior to coming to NMSU in Fall, 2000, she was a touring concert pianist for 16 years. She has performed under contract with the Community Concert Association, and appeared with symphonies such as the Los Angeles Concordia Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Reno Philharmonic, the Nevada Symphony, and the Owensboro Symphony.
The recipient of four touring grants from the Nevada State Council on the Arts and the Nevada Humanities Committee, Laura Spitzer traveled with her Steinway grand packed into her truck from 1984 to 2003, bringing classical music to hundreds of rural communities and schools throughout the U.S. and western Canada. In recognition of this contribution, she was honored with the 1986 Nevada Governor's Arts Award. She has been featured on ABC World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News, NBC Sunday Today, and The West nationwide, and in such publications as People, Time, Reader's Digest, Mother Earth News, New York Times, Piano and Keyboard, Clavier, and Overdrive.
Laura Spitzer attended Oberlin Conservatory for one year, and completed her undergraduate studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, where she was awarded the Bösendorfer Stipend and graduated with distinction. After touring with the Austrian Ensemble for New Music, recording numerous programs for Austrian Radio and taking first prize at the Kurt Leimer Competition, she earned her Master's Degree at the Peabody Institute. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California, where she served as Assistant Lecturer of Keyboard Studies and received the department's teaching award in 1991. Her principal teachers have been Walton Ball, Hans Leygraf, Leon Fleisher, and John Perry.
Dr. Spitzer served on the adjunct faculty at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for five years, and has conducted master classes and workshops at colleges, conventions, and summer camps throughout the U.S. She teaches each year at the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program in Idyllwild, California.
