Biography

HIGHLIGHTS

~ Laura has learned from many tradition bearers on both sides of the Atlantic, and has herself been recognized as a Master Folk Artist (Minnesota State Arts Board). She has been lauded as a "Celtic music wizard" by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and a "High priestess of Celtic music" by Minnesota Public Radio.

~ From production work (and appearance) on A Prairie Home Companion to academic work in ethnomusicology, from rockin' out in Boiled in Lead to national touring with Lorie Line and her Pop Chamber Orchestra, MacKenzie has enjoyed vast and varied experience in the worlds of music while developing as a performing artist.

~ Laura has received an abundance of honors and awards over the years, including being selected for the original Cherish the Ladies series, featuring noted women in Irish music in America, plus multiple performing arts awards and fellowships. Most recently, Laura was awarded a Bush Foundation Artists Fellowship in Traditional and Ethnic Performing Arts.

~ Among other notables, Laura has performed in extended productions with Frank McCourt (Pulitzer prize winning author of Angela's Ashes), T.R. Knight (of Grey's Anatomy, on stage at the Guthrie Theater) and Katie McMahon (of Riverdance).

~ As a player and producer, MacKenzie is often engaged for live shows and studio projects, and can be heard on numerous recordings and several documentaries. One of her studio projects sold over 575,000 copies. Laura both produced and performed in the popular and festive "Charladies Christmas" and "Gaelfest!" shows.

~ In performance, Laura currently appears as a solo artist, in duos with Dáithí Sproule (of Altan), Ross Sutter, in Willow Brae with harpist Andrea Stern, and in the ensembles Laura and the Lads, Piper's Crow and The Doon Ceili Band.

FULL BIOGRAPHY ~

HISTORY
Laura has learned from many noted tradition bearers on both sides of the Atlantic, and has herself been recognized as a Master Folk Artist (Minnesota State Arts Board). Of Scottish heritage (through Rankins and MacKenzies), her people came to the United States by way of Nova Scotia and Northern Ireland. In St. Paul, Minnesota, Laura learned to play traditional music at ceilis (dances or social gatherings) within the local Irish-American community and soon became immersed in both the music and dance.

Laura and her colleagues played a major role in the revival of Irish music and dance in the Upper Midwest as the Northern Star Ceili Band, steaming up dance halls for seven years. During this time, Laura was also a founding member of a dance performance ensemble, the Mooncoin Ceili Dancers, and studied Irish step dancing heartily. Along the way there was some measure of formal study in anthropology and music, but her best education has been with her comrades and favorite "teachers" - the players of traditional music - in kitchens, pubs, folk schools and dance halls across Ireland, Scotland and the United States.

Laura has enjoyed vast and varied experience in the world of music while developing as a performing artist. She has been a production assistant for "A Prairie Home Companion", partnered a rare music import business, worked for a folk instrument-building business, was employed as a teaching assistant in ethnomusicology and toiled happily in the archives of traditional music at the School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh. Eventually, the role of performer won out.

PERFORMANCE
In performance, Laura has worked with many ensembles, from Boiled in Lead (world beat rock 'n reel), Walking On Air (British Isles folk), and Macha Trí (Celtic trio) to Lorie Line's Pop Chamber Orchestra, with whom she toured nationally from 1997-2005. Laura has been privileged to perform with some of the great names in Irish music, including Dáithí Sproule (of Altan) Paddy O'Brien, Liz Carroll, Martin Hayes and Katie McMahon (of Riverdance). She has also been honored to share the stage with heroes of Scottish and English piping, Hamish Moore, Jon Swayne and Julian Goodacre. Her love for the music of various piping traditions and passion for playing these instruments has lead her more recently to the music of Central France and Northern Spain, all of which she encompasses in performance.

Laura has been a featured performer for the National Flute Association and for public radio, including appearances on A Prairie Home Companion and Voices of Minnesota. She has performed on stage in extended theatrical productions at the Guthrie Theater (with T.R. Knight of Grey's Anatomy) and with Pulitzer Prize winning Irish author Frank McCourt (of Angela's Ashes). Solo and with bands, Laura has performed at folk festivals across the United States, including the Milwaukee Irish Fest, North Texas Irish Festival, Champlain Valley Folk Festival, the Great River Festival, Dublin Irish Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival in Canada and the Bagpipe Society's Blowout in England.

HONORS AND AWARDS
A number of honors have been awarded to Laura over the years for her participation and dedication in this realm of music. She was selected to perform in the original Cherish the Ladies concert series in New York, featuring noted women in Irish music in America. She placed in traditional singing at the Chicago Fleadh Cheoil, which meant the privilege of singing at the annual Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann (in Ireland). Laura has won Minnesota Music Academy Awards in both Celtic vocal and Celtic instrumental music and was nominated for Best Folk/Acoustic Artist in 2003. Laura was particularly honored to be awarded recognition as a Master Folk Artist by the State of Minnesota (through the Minnesota State Arts Board). Through a program supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, she was selected for the culturally diverse American Traditions roster in 2000. As a solo artist, Laura has been awarded a McKnight Foundation Performing Arts Fellowship, a MN State Arts Board Performing Arts Fellowship, a Jerome Foundation grant, and in 2009 was awarded a Bush Foundation Artists Fellowship, one of the nation's most prestigious artists awards.

RECORDING AND PRODUCING
As a player and producer, Laura is often engaged for live shows and studio projects, and can be heard on numerous recordings and on several documentary films. She has produced and co-produced a number of commercial recordings of traditional music, one of which sold over 575,000 copies. In 2003, MacKenzie released two of her own recordings on the New Folk Records label -"Evidence" and "Laura and The Lads" - with enthusiastic reviews.
As a guest artist, Laura has recorded with many singers and composers, including Peter Ostroushko, Dean Magraw, Peter Mayer, Ann Reed, Diane Jarvi, Gary Rue, Chuck Suchy, Jeff Victor, Marty Haugen, Sunita Staneslow, Ann Heymann, Dáithí Sproule, as well as Katie McMahon, Lorie Line and Boiled in Lead. Laura produced and performed in "Gaelfest!", part of The O'Shaughnessy's Women of Substance series, which also featured such notable artists as Natalie McMaster and Sweet Honey in the Rock. With seven musicians and eight dancers, these shows were a smashing success. Recently, Laura co-produced the popular and festive "Charladies Christmas" shows, holiday celebrations of traditional music and dance.

CURRENT
MacKenzie currently performs solo and with several ensembles including Laura and The Lads, Willow Brae, Piper's Crow, The Doon Ceili Band and Northern Gael, while also appearing in duos with Ross Sutter and Dáithí Sproule. In St. Paul, she teaches students of Irish and Scottish music on whistle, flute and Scottish smallpipes, and has recently released a duo recording with Dáithí Sproule. Today, Laura fills life with performance, private teaching, studio projects, show production and the imagining of pine forests. She enjoys being a Bush Foundation Artist Fellow, and is the proud mother of the amazing Dugan MacKenzie Magraw.