Featured Musician: Laura Potter, Tuba
Tuba soloist Laura Potter will be featured this Friday in a concert for the unique ensemble of tuba plus string quartet. I caught up with her at her Cleveland Heights home to learn about her tuba career and her connections to CityMusic.
Laura is an active freelance performer and has played with the Indianapolis Brass Choir, the Billings Symphony (MT), the Lafayette Symphony (IN), Kansas City Brassworks, the University of Kansas Faculty Brass Quintet, the Appalachian Brass, and the Glendale Symphony (CA). She holds degrees in the tuba from the University of Southern California, the University of Memphis, and the University of Kansas. She was a Fulbright Research Fellow in 2012-13, researching Nordic solo and chamber repertoire and pedagogy for brass at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has served on the faculties at Indiana State University and Dickinson State University. She currently maintains an active private studio of brass students in Cleveland.
Rowan Draper: What got you into the tuba?
Laura Potter: When I was in 5th grade, our band director came into our art class to try to demonstrate all the instument. First he played the euphonium for us, and then everyone wanted to play the euphonium but there was a shortage of euphoniums in the district. So, when we went to the high school to try out instruments, I also tried the tuba, and decided I would choose the tuba. I originally actually wanted to play the flute, but my older sister had chosen the flute two years before me, so I wanted to go with something very different.
RD: What led you to study the tuba seriously, even getting a doctorate in the tuba?
LP: Even in 5th grade, I was very enthusiastic about the tuba, and from a middle school age I had a plan that that’s what I wanted to do, and I would go to college for it. So I went to University of Southern Califormia for my undergraduate and had some really great teachers there, it inspired me to continue further. I’ve just always had a love and passion for the tuba.
RD: Do you play with groups locally right now?
LP: When I moved to Cleveland five years ago, I was seven months pregnant, so I left all my gigs in Indianapolis and came here and had a kid. I go back to Indianapolis to play and have had a few gigs in Cleveland, but recently I’ve mostly been playing typical wind ensemble or small orchestral parts. This concert has been a great opportunity to play soloistic, chamber music.
RD: Is there much chamber music featuring tuba as a solo instrument?
LP: There is some, here and there. There are more pieces with string quartet than I initially thought, enough to do three or four different programs, but the most common chamber ensemble for tuba is brass quintet. In a brass ensemble the tuba is much more integrated, it may have solo moments but is not usually the featured instrument. There are also some mixed chamber works, like piano, horn, and tuba or duets for violin and tuba, but that repertoire is more scattered, not a standard chamber ensemble.
RD: You also act in a different — and very important — role as Director of Development for CityMusic. How did you get into development?
LP: I was looking for part-time work in music when I moved to Cleveland and saw a job posting with CityMusic. When I read about CityMusic’s mission – a classical music ensemble performing free concerts in underserved areas and doing projects that relate to social justice issues – I connected a lot with those two elements. I’ve been with CityMusic for five years now and have really enjoyed working here. My primary focus is fundraising and writing grant proposals, and I love to write, but I also get to have input on some of the programming decisions and direction of the organization. I find it really fulfilling, to be able to exercise creativity while working in a more administrative role.
RD: We are so looking forward to your concert on September 16, featuring music for tuba and string quartet!