laura wilson
An excellent piano/vocal teacher with tons of experience - both teaching and performing. Friendly, reliable and very talented!
Instruments: Piano & Vocal
Area of specialty: Jazz & rock vocals, beginners piano, young beginners to advanced students
Laura is a Toronto-based musician and instructor. She graduated with a diploma in Vocal Jazz Performance from Humber College, as well as completing Grade 9 Piano, and Grade 8 Voice, through The Royal Conservatory of Music.
As an instructor, Laura has a wholistic approach to teaching. She mentors students in technique, artistry, theory, composition, and improvisation. Her students have been admitted to post-secondary programs at Berklee College of Music, Humber College, Wilfred Laurier University, Metalworks Institute, and University of Ottawa. One of her students received a gold medal for achieving excellence from The Royal Conservatory of Music.
In addition to performing in clubs and festivals around Toronto and the GTA, Laura has performed as a top-rated Piano Bar Entertainer with Carnival Cruise Line. She was named "Favourite Discovery Artist" in a poll by SkyJazz radio in 2015.
Testimonials
"Laura is a constant, steady, reliable mentor who sits beside you with a mission to help you find your true voice. She is one of those rare instructors who has the capacity to help a student reach their highest potential while still ensuring the process is fun." - Smudgie, former student
"Drawing inspirations from soul, jazz, gospel, blues, rock, I could listen to Laura sing her heart out for hours." - Brandon Robbins, Listen Local Toronto
"Laura did an excellent job of facilitating a fun, interactive atmosphere. I thought she was the best of the piano bar performers that I’ve seen." - guest, Carnival Cruise Line
TOP TEN(ish) ALBUMS
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill
Songs In The Key Of Life - Stevie Wonder
Back To Black - Amy Winehouse
Pet Sounds - Beach Boys
Black Messiah - D’Angelo
Grace - Jeff Buckley
Channel ORANGE - Frank Ocean
Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin
A Seat At The Table - Solange
Music From Big Pink - The Band
Veedon Fleece - Van Morrison
Tapestry - Carole King
Blue - Joni Mitchell
Randy Newman - Randy Newman
BEST LIVE MUSIC EXPERIENCE
Alabama Shakes, in a sweaty parking lot, in Ybor City
Damien Rice, during a heat wave, at The Danforth Music Hall
(I’m not saying that sweating together makes a show a spiritual experience, but I’m not not saying that either.)
FAVOURITE RESTAURANT / FOOD
In Baja there are tons of roadside taquerias. While there, I always ordered: dos tacos de pollo con tortilla de maíz y un coca. It’s the best - sitting at a picnic table, and somewhere in the background there are spanish-translated pop songs on a radio.
FAVOURITE SCALE
Minor Pentatonic, mixolydian mode.... anything that works in R&B
LIST ALL THE INSTRUMENTS YOU CAN PLAY
Piano, Flute, Kazoo (for covering 80s rock guitar solos, obviously)
FIRST MUSICAL EXPERIENCE
1. As a kid, my grandpa often took my cousins and I to sing AT seniors in LTC homes. We had a limited repertoire, and spent the majority of time getting ourselves arranged in a row.
2. Thanks to the World Series’ Blue Jays, my dad’s car radio was always tuned to 1050 CHUM. I fell in love with songs for the first time, singing about the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees....
MOST INFLUENTIAL ARTIST
Amy Winehouse - as a singer, she could sell a story. She manipulated her voice into different colours to demonstrate the emotion in a lyric.
I LIKE TO TEACH BECAUSE…
...it feels important. Mentoring someone, no matter how far they plan to go with music, has an impact. To be a good student, a person has to be a bit vulnerable, and put their trust in their teacher. All the achievements: the growth in confidence and skill, the performances, the new songs written, they are a win for both the student and teacher.
FAVOURITE MOVIE
For quotability: So I Married An Axe Murderer
For soundtrack: The Commitments