Laura Hammes Black
Violin
Has played with the Salina Symphony since: 2018
Hometown: Ithaca, NY
Current City: Wichita, KS
Education: MM, Violin Performance, Music History minor, Indiana University, December 1985,studied with Josef Gingold; BM, Violin Performance, University of Michigan, May 1980, studied with Angel Reyes
Job Title: Self Employed Violin Teacher in Wichita, Kansas, member of Wichita Symphony, Violin Faculty at Kanas Wesleyan University. Artistic Director and Strings Coordinator of Camp Allegro Wichita.
Earliest musical memory:
Hearing my dad sing to me as a child (and he really does not have a good singing voice, although he is a very good pianist!). I remember one of my favorite songs he sang being Take me out to the Ballgame.
Best part of being a Salina Symphony musician:
My fellow musicians in the orchestra are a great group of people, both musically and personally
Favorite composers:
I have a lot of favorite composers, probably Beethoven and Tchaikovsky are a couple of the composers who I like best
What kind of music do you enjoy listening to?
I listen to classical music and also to The Bridge channel on Sirius XM when I’m driving, which are oldies from around the 1970’s. I also listen to the Siriusly Sinatra channel on Sirius XM.
How do you spend your free time?
I teach violin lessons and play various gigs around town, including Music Theatre of Wichita in the summer. Besides playing the violin, I like to read and watch movies. I also like to cook.
Whom do you admire?
I admire some of the people who have been great violinists, like Jascha Heifitz, Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman.
What is your greatest accomplishment?
Probably my two children, Darryl and Adam. Darryl, age 27, is also a violinist who has Violin performance degrees from California State University in Fullerton and the University of Oklahoma. Adam, age 25, used to play the cello, but graduated from Berkeley College in New York City with a degree in business and a concentration in fashion merchandising, and a minor in international business.