Neighborhood Music Teacher is Back in Action!

An Artist in Residence at the Center for Faith and the Arts, Fulton Heights resident Laurie Klaus is excited to put pandemic isolation behind her! Though virtual lessons will still be an option, in-person voice and piano lessons, as well as audition prep coaching, will be offered beginning the week of April 12.

All in-person lessons will be at the Center for Faith and the Arts, on Harrison St. in Salisbury. There are currently limited openings for private lessons and coaching sessions. Laurie continues to monitor changes in CDC guidelines, hoping she will soon be able to safely expand her studio through offering various types of music classes. Information about future classes will be posted on the Center for Faith and the Arts’ Facebook page, as well as on Laurie’s Instagram (pianolauriek).

An award-winning Music Director/Keyboardist known throughout the Piedmont’s theatre community, Laurie specializes in audition preparation for musicals, teaching people to hear pitch and match it, and expand singers’ vocal ranges. She enjoys working with all ages and levels of experience, with current students ranging in age from 5-75. Her piano students’ levels range from beginner to intermediate.

Outside her studio, Laurie is sought out for her skills in teaching and directing vocals, conducting for musicals, and performing as both an accompanist and pit musician. During the pandemic, she was thrilled to be able to music direct Lee St. Theatre’s Fun Home and Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance’s Head Over Heels. This spring, she will be accompanying a college student for his senior trumpet recital, and music directing Old Courthouse Theatre’s Nunsense, which will be produced in May. 

Past career highlights include contracts with Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, where she conducted instrumental ensembles as they prepared to open the park’s live shows. During their 2013 Christmas Town, she conducted a 16-piece orchestra from the piano for Gloria!, USA Today’s top-rated Christmas Show in Theme Parks for that season. She was honored to be in the pit orchestra for the world premiere of Frank Wildhorn’s musical, Zelda: An American Love Story, at Flat Rock Playhouse, where she was contracted the following season as a rehearsal pianist for Les Miserables.

For information about rates and available lesson times, Laurie can be contacted at 704-245-2802 (text or call), through Instagram message, or via email at laurieklaus2@gmail.com.