Laura Colgate

Appointed Fall 2026

Praised by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as “remarkably poised...sensitive and majestic,” violinist Laura Colgate enjoys a versatile career as a chamber and orchestral musician, soloist, educator, curator, activist and innovator. Having performed worldwide across Europe, Asia and North America, she has performed on stages including the Barbican Centre, Kennedy Center and multiple appearances at Carnegie Hall.

Laura currently lives in Takoma Park, MD and is concert leader of The National Philharmonic at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD. She formerly served as concertmaster of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina and the El Paso Symphony Orchestra. She is curator for the Strathmore Music in the Mansion series, and formerly the curator for National Philharmonic Chamber Music Series and the Chamber Music Series at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. At the University of Maryland School of Music, Laura formerly taught Financial Entrepreneurship for Arts Leaders and served as lecturer of chamber music and chamber music coordinator for strings.

She completed her doctorate from the UMD School of Music, focusing her thesis on women c omposers. Laura is passionate about being an innovator in the world of classical music, and in March 2018 co-founded the Boulanger Initiative, an advocacy organization for women composers based in Maryland, for which she holds the position of executive and artistic director. The Initiative champions the works of women and gender-marginalized composers through consulting, performance, education and commissions, and launched the Boulanger Initiative Database of Repertoire by Women and Gender Marginalized Composers, the largest of its kind housing over 20,000 works, in March 2023.