Laura Osterlund

Laura Osterlund is a sought-after American recorder player and member of a new generation of historically informed musicians. At home in Baroque, Renaissance, medieval, and modern music, Laura Osterlund has performed with Opera Theatre of St. Louis in the North American premiere of Handel's Richard the Lionheart, with Chicago Shakespeare Theater in the American premiere of Nell Gwynn, for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban live with Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and with Cincinnati Opera in its production of Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea. She also premiered a new composition by Eric Malmquist as a guest artist with Bach + Beethoven Experience.

As a founding member of Boston-based Ensemble Musica Humana, Laura Osterlund performed in staged productions of Hildegard von Bingen's liturgical drama Ordo Virtutum, as well as concerts featuring the music of Michael Praetorius, Turlough O'Carolan, and Cancionero de Palacio. She also performed programs showcasing the diverse musical repertoire of the recorder as a founding member of Chicago Recorder Quartet.

After earning her bachelor's degree in Early Music Performance and Music History from McGill University in 2012, Laura Osterlund worked as the Assistant Program Manager and Recorder Specialist Teacher for Keiskamma Music Academy in rural South Africa, where she facilitated musical instruction and academic support for over a hundred students from elementary school to high school.

Laura Osterlund's facility with chant notation gave her the opportunity to help develop an online searchable Liber Usualis as an undergraduate research assistant at McGill's Distributed Digital Music Archives and Libraries Lab. She completed her graduate studies in Historical Performance Practice at Case Western Reserve University in 2018. Advised by musicologist Susan McClary, her culminating lecture-recital explored medieval instrumental improvisation in the Codex Faenza. Her honors include the American Recorder Society Professional Development Grant, Walgreens National Concerto Competition awards, MacDowell Artists Annual Scholarship, Musicians Club of Women Farwell Trust Award, and Barbara Thornton Memorial Scholarship.

Based in Chicago, Laura Osterlund has worked as a recorder teacher at the Madison and Whitewater early music festivals, as a writer for the radio show Harmonia Early Music, and has performed with Chicago Opera Theater, Music of the Baroque, and Cleveland Opera Theater, among other ensembles. She also performs on the vielle, Irish whistle, and shawm, and sings as a cantor and choir member at churches throughout Chicago.