Faculty Spotlight: Laura Klein

Meet Laura Klein

Degrees and Experience
  • M.M., Piano Pedagogy and Performance - Westminster Choir College
  • B.Mus, Piano Performance - Mars Hill University
Biography and Professional Achievements

Laura Klein, M.M., NCTM, pianist and musicologist, is a US-based performer, educator, and researcher of early keyboard music and performance practice. A current Ph.D. candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder where her research is on the Austen family music books, Klein earned her Master of Music in Pedagogy and Performance from Westminster Choir College and her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Mars Hill University. She is alumna of Brevard Music Center and the International Scholar Laureate Program through the Juilliard School of Music. She has performed throughout the USA and in Canada, Austria, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic in venues such as Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, Wiener Musikverien, and Boettcher Concert Hall. Former faculty at Westminster Choir College, The American Boychoir School, and Walla Walla University, Klein currently serves on faculty in the School of Music at Colorado Christian University. A passionate educator, she is nationally certified through Music Teachers National Association and runs a successful private studio, Appassionata Piano Studio, in Golden, Colorado.

A pianist and Jane Austen scholar, she founded The Jane Austen Playlist in 2019. This project focuses on digitization, performance, and research of the music Jane Austen collected and played. Performances include The Jane Austen Playlist: Love and Music of Regency England, In Jane’s Hand: Music from Jane Austen’s Manuscript, and A Pride and Prejudice Playlist. Resident pianist at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, Hampshire, U.K., Klein was a Reimagine Resident in Spring 2023, during which she created and performed a collection of playlists for Pride and Prejudice Day at the House. Her most recent performance was at the Jane Austen Society of North America’s 2023 Annual General Meeting where she premiered The Jane Austen Playlist: Pride and Prejudice, a performance combining dramatized excerpts from Jane Austen’s novel with the music in her personal music collection.

When she is not at the piano or buried in the pages of a book, Klein enjoys traveling, photography, hiking, and spending time with her husband, Matthew, and her daughter, Alyssa. More about her performances, research, and teaching can be found at www.laurakleinpiano.com and on social media at @appassionatapiano and @thejaneaustenplaylist.