Laura Sullivan (composer)

Laura Sullivan
Background information
Genres Classical music
New-age music
Native American music
Pop music
World music
Occupation(s) Music composer
Instruments Piano
Labels Sentient Spirit Records
North Star Music
Orange Music
Associated acts William Ackerman, George Kahumoku, Jr., Jeff Oster, Nancy Rumbel, Eugene Friesen Wayne Dyer, Orlando Otey, Miss Amy, Ricky Kej, Alex Otey, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Sumitra Guha, Rupam Sarmah, Eugene Friesen, Jeff Pearce, Eric Sullivan
Website laura-sullivan.com

Laura Sullivan is an American composer, arranger, pianist, producer, author, and a New-age, World, Spoken Word, Native American, and Pop music artist.[1] She has worked with leading musicians of the industry and Grammy award winners including Eric Sullivan, Nancy Rumbel, Jeff Oster, Eugene Friesen, and Will Ackerman.[2] Her album Love's River won the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album in the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.[3][4] Love’s River was recognized as among the top five productions by Will Ackerman since 2009.[5]

Early life and education

Laura Sullivan was raised in a farm in Northern California near the foothills of Mt.Lassen. Her mother was a children's book author - Carol Purdy. She started learning piano from her mother when she was 4 years old.[6] She earned a Bachelor's degree in music with emphasis in piano, and a Master's degree in psychology from the University of San Francisco. She is the scholarship recipient of the Emily A. Hauss Music Award and the Jane Bowman Jewett Music Award. CSU San Francisco and The Academy of Art College have hosted her as a guest presenter in their music courses. She has further graduate training from the New School in New York City.[7]

Career

During her career, Laura's works have appeared in multiple videos and commercials, such as a Hyundai commercial with voice-over done by Jeff Bridges, as well as an infomercial for Everyday Paleo. Her music is also featured in two Emmy Award-winning documentaries, Walk into the Wild: Spirit of Itasca and The Greatest Silent Sport, the latter also being awarded at the Fargo Film Festival. Laura composed the original soundtrack for the film Valentines Day Special, which starred Jon Polito, and performed the music for the track Sleepwalking on a Tightrope written by Henry LeRoy Finch for the movie Wake. She composed music for the feature film Emotions directed by Gio Vitelle, which premiered at the New York International 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.[8]

900 Voices

Sullivan is developing a crowd sourcing music video “900 Voices” and working with Eepybird, LLC on this project. Eepybird, LLC has created viral campaigns for companies such as OfficeMax, ABC Family, Coca-Cola, and McDonald's. They have received two Emmy nominations, four Webby Awards, and were voted “Online Game Changers of the Decade” at GoViral.com. “900 Voices” is a video of Laura’s song composition “We Are Love”. The video is produced by Laura Sullivan and Eric Sullivan. The song includes more than 27 languages and the video involves the participation of 938 singers from around the world.[9]

Collaborations

Laura performed on D. Edward’s album “Love Is” released in 2014. Other artists on the album include Grammy winners Steffen Kuehn and Tony Peebles from the Pacific Mambo Orchestra, as well as Billboard Music Award Winner, Leah Tysse.[10] She also performed on the album Omkara – The Sound of Divine Love. The album is based on Chakra and healing music and was conceived, directed and produced by Guinness World Record holder Rupam Sarmah. Along with Sullivan, the album features Grammy winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, award winning artist Padmashri Sumitra Guha, Rocia Marron, Grammy winner Brian Vibberts, Pt. Subhen Chatterjee, Jonathan Kay, Matthias Muller, among others.[11]

In 2013, Laura performed on the album "Sounds from the Circle V" produced by Suzanne Doucet. Other artists on the album include Steven Halpern, Arun Sheony, David Vito Gregoli, Pardiso, among others.[12]

In 2014, Laura performed on the album “Angel Blessings” (Benefitting Hospice) produced by Lucinda Paulos. In addition to Laura, this album features Dr. Wayne Dyer, George Kahumoku Jr., Miss Amy, Orlando Otey, Ricky Kej, Alex Otey, among others.[13] Later in 2014, she was featured on the album named "The Gathering II", produced by Will Ackerman and Tom Eaton. The compilation album includes 22 artists who were produced and recorded at Imaginary Roads Studios, owned by Windham Hill Records founder, Will Ackerman. Other artists on the album include Jeff Pearce, Isadar, Jeff Oster, among others.[14]

Discography

Bibliography

Media appearances

Laura is a featured artist in a documentary named "Music Across America" presenting unique portraits of dedicated musicians, singers and songwriters across the united states. Other artists included on the show include Jake Shimabukuro, Amy Hānaialiʻi Gilliom, Little Feat, among others.

Laura Sullivan's performance of the Claire de Lune was used on season 10 of the television show So You Think You Can Dance with judges Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy and Carly Rae Jepsen.[16]

Private life

Laura lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is married to Grammy winning Producer, Film Director and Technology VP, Eric Sullivan.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mayer, Matthew (10 December 2014). "A Special Interview with Grammy Award Winning Musician Laura Sullivan". SoloPiano. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "Pianist Laura Sullivan – Love’s River". Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  3. ↑ "56th Annual GRAMMY Awards Nominees". Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  4. ↑ "56th Annual Grammy Awards: Full Winners List". Billboard. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Clavijo, Alejandro (15 May 2014). "Las 5 mejores producciones de Will Ackerman en los últimos 5 años" (in Spanish). ReviewsNewAge. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "Grammy Award Nominee Laura Sullivan: a Rarity in the New Age Category – Indie and Female". Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  7. ↑ "laura-sullivan.com". Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Laura Sullivan". Wacbiz. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Paul, John (11 October 2014). "Grammy Winner Laura Sullivan Calls out to The World to make History by Singing in her New Music Video". Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Review: D. Edward's "Love Is"". Planet Stereo. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "OMKARA – The Sound of Divine Love by Rupam Sarmah". MDM. 21 July 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Sounds From The Circle V produced by Suzanne Doucet". MDM. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/angelblessingsbenefiting". CD Baby. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  14. ↑ "http://michaeldiamondmusic.com/2014/08/10/the-gathering-ii-produced-by-will-ackerman/". MDM. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "MAA - Laura Sullivan". Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  16. ↑ "Season 10 performances". So You Think You Can Dance. Retrieved 26 March 2015.

External links