Laurel Bennett
Assistant Principal Clarinet

 

Laurel was born and raised in Minnesota where she received a B.A. in music from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, studying clarinet with Dr. Francis N. Mayer, J. Cloyde Williams (Minnesota Orchestra, principal clarinet), Timothy Paradise (Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, principal clarinet) and piano with Dr. James P. Callahan. Ms.Bennett has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in cities throughout Minnesota and the midwest, the Tampa Bay area and in Germany and Austria. She has performed with members of the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Florida Orchestra as well as in numerous pit orchestras and television sound stages.

Laurel is a founding member of Trio da Camera, comprised of clarinet, cello and piano, and upon invitation by the composer, is currently performing and recording ten of the thirteen trios written for that instrumentation by prolific Cincinnati composer, Rick Sowash (born 1950). This project encompasses the production of three full-length CD�s. Ms. Bennett is featured, along with the other members of Trio da Camera, in the first CD entitled �Goddess of the Moon�. As stated by St. Petersburg Times Performing Arts Critic, John Fleming, �There�s some fine playing on the CD, and Sowash is an interesting composer, who seems especially attuned to the clarinet. His Trio No. 4 (Conversation of the Trees) is typical, a melodious interweaving of the three instruments, with the clarinet taking the leading voice in Bennett's delightful, graceful phrasing.� (Jan. 5, 2010) The second CD is entitled �Winds of May� and was released in November 2011. The final CD in this project will be entitled �Voyageurs� and rehearsals and performances are currently underway.

Ms. Bennett is involved with local students as a middle school clarinet coach and private studio teacher. Laurel has been assistant principal clarinet of the Tampa Bay Symphony since its inception in 1986 and is a strong advocate of the group's mission to encourage and educate youth throughout Florida, as as such, is active with its yearly Young Artist Competition as an adjudicator. Ms. Bennett is also an active church musician on clarinet, recorder, violin, handbells and voice. She is continually seeking to expand her depth of musical experience and is currently studying the violin and has participated for the past six years as a chorister in the highly regarded Royal School of Church Music training course held each summer at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.