Violinist Laura Hamilton, Principal Associate Concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera, Orchestra, New York City, a position created for her in 1999 by Maestro James Levine, has been appointed as the Concertmaster for SummerFest Concerts.
At the Met, she has led hundreds of performances, including live international HD video transmissions such as Carmen, Turandot, Salome, Nixon in China, and Madama Butterfly. Prior to her work at the Metropolitan, she was a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where she was featured as a concerto soloist with Sir Georg Solti at the podium.
Ms. Hamilton has performed in the Marlboro, Tanglewood, Manchester, and Bard Music Festivals, in summer festivals in Norway and Greece, and on the Met Chamber Ensemble series at Carnegie Hall with James Levine and colleagues. She has served as guest concertmaster for the Seattle Symphony, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Welsh National Opera, the Westchester Philharmonic, and the Adelaide Symphony in Australia.
In the summers, she has been concertmaster for the New Hampshire Music Festival, the Waterloo Festival, and the Berkshire Opera. She was featured in Musical America as a "Young Artist of the Year" and received numerous awards and competition prizes.
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Laura is thrilled to be returning to the west coast to participate in Lake Tahoe SummerFest.