Hailed as the leading harpist in the region, Laura Porter is Principal Harp with the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra and co-principal for both the Bakersfield and Modesto Symphonies. She is equally versatile as a soloist, a free-lancer, an orchestral harpist, a choral accompanist, and a chamber musician. She is the harpist of the Figarden Trio, a group dedicated to exploring repertoire for flute, bassoon, and harp. Porter teaches extensively, both privately and as harp instructor for Fresno Pacific University and Fresno State. Her students have won national and regional competitions, including the AHS National Competitions, ASTA (local and state), Young Artist’s Harp Competition, and have been awarded honors such as the Jack Kent Cooke Award, the Presidential Scholar Award, and All-State Band and Orchestra positions. Her students have gone on to attend schools such as the Juilliard School, Carnegie Mellon University, the Thornton School of Music at USC, as well as UC Berkeley and UC Davis. Porter is also the founder and leader of the Fresno Harp Circle. Raised in Tucson, Arizona, Laura attended Mills College in Oakland for her Bachelors, then the University of Southern California for her Masters and other post-graduate work in music performance. She was a fellow for three years at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute. Among her major teachers are Nancy Allen, Catherine Michel, Anne Adams, and JoAnn Turovsky. Laura performs on a Camac Atlantide Prestige, made in France in 2007.