Bio

About Laura

Thank you so much for stopping by and visiting me here. Making music is my life's passion, and I so appreciate the chance to share it with you.

Here is a little bit more about my life. I'm a piano player, and a composer, and I write stuff down (poetry) and that sometimes becomes music. And I play music, and sometimes I write that down too.

My family is from a small farm in the Northern California foothills in the United States. I grew up playing my Great Grandmother Etta's one hundred year old upright. My father and mother were amateur musicians and music was a constant in our life. My mother was my first piano teacher, and although she was an amateur she was pretty darn good at playing piano, and a lot of other things as well.

There are so many things I'm grateful for, including that I'm now a Grammy® Winner and a Billboard Top Ten Recording Artist. My music has been featured in television, film, and advertising spots, including two Emmy winning documentaries.

Although that may sound fancy, I'm really not a fancy person at all. If you passed me in Trader Joe's you would probably not think anything of it. I love hearing from my listeners, so if you want to say hi, please head to my contact page and reach out. 

Here is a little more about things I've been part of, down below. 

Lots of love to you, from my heart,

Laura 

Partial List of Credits:

Laura is the composer, arranger and visionary for the epic video 900 Voices, produced by herself and her Grammy® winning husband, Eric Sullivan. 900 Voices involves the singing participation of 938 people around the world singing in 27 languages, all in 1 song

Laura's Grammy® winning release, Love's River, (Best New Age Album, 56th Grammy® Awards) includes Laura's piano music and the talents of flugelhorn and trumpet player Jeff Oster (winner of Echoes, NAR Lifestyle, and Independent Music Awards, and ZMR record of the year 2011), Grammy® Award winning artist Nancy Rumbel (of Tingstad and Rumbel), Grammy® Award winning cello player Eugene Friesen (member of the Paul Winter Consort), oboe and English horn player Jill Haley, and four pieces produced by Grammy® Award winning and platinum artist and founder of legendary Windham Hill Records, Will Ackerman, who also performs on the selection title Blessed from the album. The album was also produced by Laura's husband, Grammy® Winning Producer Eric Sullivan. Distinguished engineers on the project include Tom Eaton of Imaginary Road Studios and Michael Starita, Director at ULUV MUSIC and Founder and CEO at Bay Area Music Collective.

Love's River was named one of the top five productions to pass through the hands of Will Ackerman since 2009 by Reviews New Age.

Laura composes underscore for shows seen on CBS, NBC, Fox and Sony including So You Think You Can Dance, On the Case With Paula Zahn, The Dr. Oz Show, MTV's Catfish: The TV Show, 48 Hours, Under Dog to Wonder Dog, The History Channel, Fit TV, Angry Planet, The Perfect Murder, Discovery Civilization Channel, The Landscape Chanel and commercials for Hyundai among many others.

Her music is featured in the Emmy Award Winning documentary "Walk into the Wild: Spirit of Itasca" and the Emmy Award Winning documentary "The Greatest Silent Sport", which was also awarded at the Fargo Film Festival. She composed original music for the film "Valentine’s Day Special" (starring Jon Polito). Laura performed the music for the track "Sleepwalking on a Tightrope" written by Roy Finch for the movie "Wake." She was the composer for the feature film "Emotions" directed by Gio Vitelle which premiered at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival. She also composed and produced original music for the short film Nine and A Half Minutes Left directed by Gunther Thallinger. Her music appears in the score to Quartett by Christina Kruse and Guy Lesser, which poetically brings to life the characteristics of Nana de Bary's Liaison de Perfum. This project was recognized by inclusion in ASOFF, Paris's Fashion Film Festival.

Her music can be found on Amazon.com, iTunes, Rhapsody, Pandora, and charts in frequent rotation on Music Choice, and many other retail stores on and offline. Her discography receives airplay on radio stations around the world. Her albums have charted in the top 2 on The Zone reporter, the internationally recognized New Age and ambient radio chart. Her release, Mystical America, was named #1 New Age Album of 2004 by, Wind and Wire.

Laura is a member of the piano artist collective Whisperings Solo Piano Radio founded by composer, pianist and radio programmer, David Nevue. This artist community promotes through its radio station and concert tours with artists including David Nevue, Scott D. Davis, Suzanne Ciani, David Lanz, Wayne Gratz, and Robin Spielberg.

Ms. Sullivan was chosen as a featured artist on a TV Pilot, Music Across America, produced by legendary Jazz artist, Stanley Clarke. Her releases Mystical America and Pianoscapes for the Trails of North America were produced by acclaimed artist Chris Camozzi, (appearing with artists Jeff Lorber, Michael Bolton, Maria Carey, Barbara Streisand and many others).

Some of the other wonderful artists who have performed with Laura on her albums are Diane Grubbe (flute), Mary Pitchford (violin), Noel Jewkes (saxophone), and Anthony Blea (violin). Laura’s debut album, Piano Solos, includes several selections of music she performed written by film composer, Roy Finch.

Laura is the author of the ground-breaking piano teaching technique, Born Virtuosos: The Innovative Piano Course, as well as the book and CD by the same title. This method uses playful techniques to train young children to play like virtuosos, and learn to read music quickly.

Growing up on a farm in Northern California near the foothills of Mt. Lassen, Laura’s mother was children’s book author Carol Purdy, who is best known for her books Least of All, Mrs. Merriwether’s Musical Cat, and Iva Dunnit and the Big Wind. Carol was also Laura’s first piano teacher and started teaching her to play when Laura was four years old.

Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in Music with an emphasis in Piano Performance. She is a former student of Dr. Robert E. Bowman and the recipient of the Emily A. Hauss Music Award and the Jane Bowman Jewett Music Award. Laura also holds a master’s degree in Psychology through the School of Education from the University of San Francisco. She has further graduate training from the New School in New York City. She has appeared as a guest presenter in music courses at CSU San Francisco and the Academy of Art College.

Laura is also the author of several musicals for children which were produced by her group called “Star Company Children’s Theater.”

Laura's husband is Grammy® Winning Producer, Film Director, and Technology VP, Eric Sullivan. She is a member of the National Association of Recording Industry Professionals and a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammys®).

"Laura Sullivan's angelic writing and playing evoke vivid imagery, completely capturing the essence of her imaginative song titles. Her creativity is backed up by skillful expressive presentation. This is pure sonic artistry." Brent Fischer, Grammy® Winning Producer, Composer, Arranger (Michael Jackson, Usher, Toni Braxton et al)

"I recently had the honor of producing four pieces with Laura Sullivan for her upcoming release, Love's River. Laura is blessed with a musical soul and the hands to go with it. Her compositions are at once breathtaking and lovely; accessible and yet challenging. The four pieces showed incredible range in style while being held together by the strength of her musical voice. She is a uniquely talented musician who I hope I'll have the pleasure of working with again." Will Ackerman, Grammy® Winner and Founder of Windham Hill Records

"It is easy to see why Ms. Sullivan has such a large following. From the first moment the album began to play, I felt my blood pressure drop and a peace settle in." Dana Wright, Muzik Reviews 

“Anyone who has enjoyed the New Age pianism of Liz Story or Suzanne Ciani will find a lot to enjoy about Sullivan.” Alex Henderson, All Music Guide 

“Laura’s new arrangements take on a mature vitality and soulfulness that makes you want to listen again and again.” RJ Lannan, New Age Reporter 

"Laura Sullivan has risen to near the top of the genre by composing and releasing music that embraces a warmth, sincerity, and charm head and shoulders above many of her contemporaries." Bill Binkelman, Wind and Wire 

"In the music sense, knowing now what Laura Sullivan has in store for us..., it’s appropriate to say our future has never looked brighter." John P. Olsen, New Age Music World 

"The music on Love’s River is warm and inviting, soothing and uplifting, and should ensure Sullivan’s place in the upper echelons of contemporary pianists." Kathy Parsons, Mainly Piano 

“It's touched my soul like no other music has, and in my opinion has a healing aspect that summons a true inner peace. 5 out of 5 stars!” Joshua Anderson, Streams-of-Time

Read more about Laura Sullivan on Wikipedia.