Laura Reed has taught junior high and high school orchestra in Gilbert Public Schools since 2007 and is a conductor of the East Valley Youth Symphonies. Before coming to Gilbert, Ms. Reed taught orchestra in Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee, and was conductor of the preparatory orchestra of the Murfreesboro Youth Symphony at Middle Tennessee State University.
Ms. Reed earned a Master of Music in music education from West Virginia University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati. She has played viola in the symphony orchestras of Youngstown, Warren, Middletown (Oh.), Westmoreland (Pa.), Jackson (Tenn.) and Paducah (Ky.), in addition to freelance and recording work.
Before becoming a teacher, she was an editor or communications manager for the St. Louis Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Music Teachers National Association, and American String Teachers Association. She has received two Citations for Exceptional Leadership and Merit from the American String Teachers Association and has contributed to books and articles published by GIA Publications, Mel Bay Publications, The Strad and Strings magazine, and the National Association for Music Education. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Cincinnati Composers Guild, the Pittsburgh New Music Society, and the Williamson County Youth Orchestra and as a volunteer docent for the Nashville Symphony.
She has combined her knowledge of music education and publishing/arts management to create www.LessonPlanPro.com, an online curriculum-sharing marketplace for arts educators, now in Beta testing.