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Christopher Grant grew up right here in Northern Virginia! While attending James Madison High School, Chris studied with Kenneth Lee of Vienna, VA, and was an MTNA National Winner in both the Junior and Senior Performance competitions. He was selected to participate in the All Virginia All State Orchestra and performed as a soloist in the Kennedy Center as a finalist for the NSO Young Soloist Competition.
Chris attended The University of Michigan as a student of Fred Ormand. Performing with the Symphonic Band, Chris traveled to Carnegie Hall in New York City to participate in the world premier of Michael Daugherty's Brooklyn Bridge for clarinet and band. Christopher won his position in "The President's Own" United States Marine Band just one month after graduating with his degree in Clarinet Performance.
Laura Grant grew up in Michigan, where she was a private clarinet student of Dr. John Masserini and Dr. Kimberly Cole Luevano. While attending Haslett High School, Laura participated in the Michigan Youth Arts Festival, The University of Michigan Youth Band, Interlochen Summer Arts Camp and was principal clarinetist of the Michigan State University Honor Band. She graduated in the top ten of her class with music scholarship offers from multiple top universities and conservatories.
"Chris worked with me on a plan tailored to my prospective choices...Chris is one of the most dedicated educators and musicians I've ever worked with, and I owe large part of my success to his teaching."
CHRIS GRANT
LAURA GRANT
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The Grant Clarinet Studio includes two "Grant" clarinetists: Laura Grant and Christopher Grant. Both instructors have extensive teaching and performing experience, and a shared commitment to helping each student achieve his or her own potential. Students in the studio have a primary teacher to personally handle their instruction, plus, benefit from the scheduling flexibility, special opportunities and second opinions that only a studio with multiple teachers can offer.
While at The University of Michigan, Laura was in the studio of Deborah Chodacki and participated in all four University ensembles, including the highly selective University Symphony Orchestra. She served as principal clarinetist of the Michigan Pops Orchestra, the Energize Conducting Workshop ensemble and the Pierre Monteux School Orchestra. While a full-time student, Laura maintained a private lesson schedule of 20 students. Laura graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance, with academic honors.
In July of 2006, Laura had the opportunity to relocate her private studio to Northern Virginia. She has helped clarinet, Eb clarinet and bass clarinet students earn principal chairs in All-District Bands for Virginia Districts 9, 10, 11, 12 and 16, as well as All-Virginia Band and Orchestra. Students of the Grant Clarinet Studio have received superior ratings at Solo & Ensemble Festival and have been awarded collegiate music scholarships for clarinet performance and music education. Laura has served as an adjudicator for the Senior Regional Orchestra, District Bands, and Fairfax County Solo & Ensemble Festivals, and is currently the clarinet instructor for several award winning music programs, including Thoreau Middle School and James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia. She is the clarinet technique instructor at the Vienna Band Camp, the largest band camp in Norther Virginia, and is a member of the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra. Laura performs exclusively on her own, handcrafted clarinet reeds and has been featured as the guest expert on reed-making on the podcast Clarineat. Laura lives with her husband Chris, a clarinetist with “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, and their children, Jack and Abby, in Reston, Virginia.
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"Laura is an exceptional teacher, providing creative teaching methods, patience, inspiration and obvious care for her students."
Here in Virginia, Chris maintains an intense performance schedule. Several notable recent performances include Frank Ticheli’s Concerto for Clarinet, Luigi Bassi’s Fantasy on Rigoletto, Donato Lovreglio’s Fantasy on Traviata, Aaron Copland’s Concerto for Clarinet, and Johannes Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet with other members of the Marine Band and Camber Orchestra. In addition, he performed Vincenzo Bellini’s Gran Duetto Concertato La Sonnambula at the 2012 International ClarinetFest in Lincoln, Neb. Chris has performed under the batons of John Williams, Johan de Meij, and Gerard Schwarz and recently performed Ticheli's Concerto for Clarinet at the Texas Bandmasters Association's Annual Convention, with the composer conducting. Since moving to the area, he has given classes and clinics at over 150 schools around the country, including 30 in the DC metro area. Chris is a knowledgeable reed-maker, and plays on a Yamaha CSG II clarinet and Vandoren mouthpieces.