Laura Deng, 17, from Stillwater Oklahoma, began playing cello at age 11 with Dr. Meredith Blecha-Wells. Laura was the winner of 2017 Oklahoma Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition and Dr. Lin-Lin Liu Award for Excellence in Solo Performance. Laura will have her orchestra solo debut May 2018 with OYO. Laura was awarded First Place cello at the Oklahoma City Orchestra League Buttram Competition in 2016 and 2017. She was also the winner of 2017 American Protégé International Concerto Competition and performed at Carnegie Hall December 2017. She was the Oklahoma state winner for MTNA Senior String Competition in 2017, and South Central Division Honorable Mention. In November 2017, Laura was chosen to accompany Moscow Ballet Principal Ballerina Karyna Shatkovskaya on their 25th Anniversary of Moscow Ballet’s North American Tours. Laura serves as the principal cellist at Oklahoma Youth Orchestra, as well as a cellist for both the OYO Honor Quartet and the OSSM Quartet, which won First Place at the OKC Music Olympics. She has been a member of the All-State Orchestra for the past 3 years. Currently, Laura is enrolled at the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics (OSSM), where she is working hard to grow not just as a student excelling in math and science, but as a musician as well.
