Yale University — BA (Biology)

San Francisco Conservatory of Music — MM, AC (Music performance)

Laura Gaynon is excited to join the wonderful community that is JCHS as a music teacher. A proud Bay Area native and 15-year San Francisco resident, Laura enjoys a dynamic career as a cellist, educator, and artistic director. She has toured nationally with Pop-Up Magazine, recorded scores for both independent artists and major films, including Looper (2012), and performed in more chamber music concerts than she can count. Between 2016 and 2019, Laura co-directed Bard Music West, a San Francisco music festival that explored the life and works of one composer each season through music, dance, theater, film, and lectures. A historical performance nerd, she has performed on baroque cello and viola da gamba with many of the West Coast’s major historical performance ensembles.

Along the way, Laura discovered that she feels most energized and happy when she is teaching music. Before joining the faculty at JCHS, she taught cello to undergraduates at San Francisco State University, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, and at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, as well as at numerous pre-college music programs. After teaching at the Pacific Crest Music Festival for seven years, she became its Artistic Director in 2022.

Laura earned a masters degree in Cello Performance and an artist certificate in Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and she is currently working towards her doctor of musical arts degree through the University of Illinois. Her dissertation explores the intersection between music education and developmental psychology.