Laura Herrera

On Stage

Venezuelan violinist Laura Herrera began her musical studies at the age of seven in La Casa de la Cultura in Carora, Venezuela. A product of El Sistema, she received her formative musical training within the program and served as Assistant Concertmaster of the Pedro León Torres Youth Orchestra from 2011-2017. In 2017, she moved to the United States to attend Interlochen Arts Academy, where she graduated with High Honors and Distinction.

Laura obtained a scholarship to study at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where she earned her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance, studying with Almita Vamos and MingHuan Xu, and graduating Magna Cum Laude. She later completed her Master of Music in Violin Performance at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory under Benny Kim. During her graduate studies, she was a member of the Graduate Fellowship String Quartet, joined the Kansas City Symphony sublist, and received the Kansas City Sigma Alpha Iota Scholarship Competition award.

Her orchestral experience includes performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony, where she holds a section position, as well as the Charlotte Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Music of the Baroque, The Orchestra San Antonio, and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, where she was selected as a 2025 Violin Fellow. She has also appeared with the Artosphere Orchestra Festival and Opera Festival Chicago.

Laura has worked with and received masterclasses from distinguished artists including Nancy Wu, Jun Iwasaki, David Chan, Robert Chen, Ilya Kaler, and Nurit Patch, among others.

She also remains involved in music education, having taught for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Young Musicians Program and the Charleston Symphony Youth Orchestra Program -- a continuation of the values instilled during her early years in El Sistema. She is currently based in Charlotte, North Carolina.