Laura Bierce began her Suzuki training at age 3 ½ when she played violin with the Buffalo Suzuki Strings under the direction of Mary Cay Neil. From age five through high school, she studied Suzuki piano with Carol Murphy, Claudio Vasquez and Jeanne (Hansen) Weisman. She has attended numerous Suzuki workshops and institutes and as a student worked with teachers including Carole Bigler and Valerie Lloyd Watts. During her high school years in Hudson, Ohio she was an accompanist for the Suzuki violin students of her mother, Margaret Wutz.

While working on her Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, Laura continued her private piano study at The Ohio State University’s School of Music. She discovered her love of teaching children during graduate school where she worked with a team to develop a science education unit that was piloted in the Columbus Public Schools. Shortly thereafter, she made the decision to combine her love of music and working with children by pursuing training in Suzuki education. While completing her teacher training, she has studied under well-known professionals such as Rita Hauck, Doris Koppelman and Mary Craig Powell.

She has continued her piano studies with Jeanne (Hansen) Weisman and has also completed coursework in piano technique and body mapping through the course “What Every Musician Needs to Know about the Body” which she applies in teaching students to develop an overall awareness of natural movement in their playing. In addition, Laura has taken Music Mind Games training for teaching music theory and reading with its creator, Michiko Yurko.

Laura and her husband Ken live in Hudson Ohio along with their two daughters Anna and Lainey. Both girls attend Hudson Montessori School. Anna is also a Suzuki piano student and Lainey is a Suzuki violin student currently enrolled in the Conservatory of Music.

Contact: lbierce@hudsonmontessori.org