Plymouth Philharmonic OrchestraFeatured Artist

Laura Pardee Schaefer, oboe and English horn, cultivates a diverse musical life, performing solo, chamber, and orchestral works throughout Boston and the South Shore.

Laura is a core member of the Plymouth Philharmonic, the New Bedford Symphony, and the Cape Symphony orchestras. She has performed in the orchestras for Masterworks Chorale, Polymnia Choral Society, New Bedford Choral Society, and for ensembles at Boston College, Tufts University, Brandeis, and UMass Dartmouth. As a steadfast advocate for contemporary music, Laura has had the great privilege of being a regular performer for more than 15 years as a solo English horn and oboe section member with the Odyssey Opera of Boston and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP). During her time with BMOP, she has performed at Symphony Hall in Boston, Carnegie Hall in NY, where the orchestra received a rave review from the NY Times, played on a Grammy-nominated recording (Andrew Norman’s Play), and a Grammy Award-winning recording (Tobias Picker’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox).

Laura annually visits Plymouth area elementary schools as a representative of the Plymouth Philharmonic to provide in-school small ensemble concerts, demonstrations, and music education programs to 3rd-5th graders.

Prior to moving to New England, she graduated with honors as an oboe performance major from Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. Laura then earned her Master of Music degree from the University of Missouri in Kansas City and spent two years working towards a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Southern California. She lives in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, with her husband (Plymouth Phil bassist Ira Schaefer), their two daughters (Maya and Zoe), and their dog and cat.