Laura Hawley is a Canadian composer, conductor, pianist, and educator. She is known for her creative musical leadership and artistic programming, community engagement, distinctive compositional style, and passionate advocacy for Canadian choral art.

Laura has been steeped in choral art since childhood, and her output demonstrates an ongoing interest in writing for all artists—from the developing chorister’s voice to the professional choral ensemble. Her works have been commissioned, performed, and recorded by many fine choirs, including Canadian Chamber Choir, Pro Coro Canada, Elektra Women’s Choir, Vancouver Youth Choir, Cantiamo Choirs, and Toronto Children’s Chorus. Her music became internationally famous overnight when her piece, "Alhamdoulillah", went viral on YouTube with the title “Welcome to Canada Syrian Refugees” in December 2014.

Laura’s works are published by Oxford University Press, Rhythmic Trident Music Publishing, Cypress Choral music, Silent Dawn Music Publishing, and on www.laurahawley.ca

As well as being a composer, Laura is also a leader in the Canadian choral scene as artistic director of Da Camera Singers (Edmonton), conductor of ChandraTala (Edmonton), pianist/singer with the Canadian Chamber Choir, and co-founder of the Sonic Timelapse Project.

Laura has also taught theory, conducting, and composition at the university level. She holds an ARCT from the Royal Conservatory of Music and completed a BMus and MA at University of Ottawa. She has studied conducting with Wayne Toews, the late Prof. Morihiro Okabe, Michael Zaugg, and Lone Larsen; composition with Stephen Gellman, Uģis Prauliņš, and Prof. Allan Bell; and voice with Elizabeth Turnbull.

On the web: www.laurahawley.ca