“A stunning, forward-looking sound that charts a path for innovation in folk music” —PopMatters

Laura Cortese might best be described as a sonic magpie: a curious and resourceful adventurer traversing great distances, collecting melodies and rhythms that glitter like jewels in the sun. Driven by the gravitational pull of human connection, her tendency towards exploration and collaboration have led her into countless niches, each providing its own unique feather with which to decorate her distinct and ever-evolving sound.

Starting as a young child picking up the fiddle for the first time, Cortese has used these strings to tie herself to others, forging connections across age, genre, and identity. After a Californian childhood filled with Celtic music camps, Cortese went on to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Her early career explorations didn’t end with performance though. Cortese also co-founded the Boston Celtic Music Festival, and later they Miles of Music Camp. The goal of this camp is not only to introduce these diverse musicians to new genres and musical catalogs, but to build community and spark creativity. She has toured across the globe, acting as an ambassador of American music on behalf of the US State Department by performing and teaching in India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Estonia, Greece, Ukraine, and Montenegro. Now, she holds space and builds community for musicians in Belgium as the co-founder of the monthly Bright Lights Session in Ghent.

All of these threads have joined together, culminating in her work leading the musicians’ collective known as Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards. Here, she showcases all of her varied experience and expertise–as a master fiddler, an instructor, a leader, and a musical collaborator–using it to craft a new sound from whole cloth: a nearly symphonic hybrid of countless traditions and influences, full of layered vocal harmonies and rich interplays of virtuosic string instrumentation.