Laura Flanagan holds a BM with Teacher’s Certification and a Master’s in Music Education from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas where she is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Fine Arts, Musicology. Her current research interests include examining ways in which music has been a vehicle for building communities. Specific areas for this research include the history of the TTU School of Music as well as vernacular music in rural southeastern Australia. Previously, she taught orchestra in the Lubbock Independent School District for fifteen years where she was most recently the Director of Orchestras at Coronado High School. Her orchestras have consistently received top ratings at state competitions. She currently serves on the Editorial Committee for American String Teacher, as secretary for the T.I.M.E.S. (Traditional Irish Music Education Society) board and continues to judge, clinic and host orchestra events throughout Texas. Her primary orchestral instrument is the double bass, however, she also teaches and performs traditional Irish music on the fiddle and is a long time student of fiddler, Randal Bays. She released her first solo fiddle album, The Great Southern Ocean in March 2020.