Laura Cortese is a beautifully expressive fiddler, a mesmerizing alto singer, and a deft songwriter with a knack for bringing together the groove and polish of urban music with universal themes of the old world. Over the past several years, Laura has steadily built a reputation for her dazzling musicianship and sprightly performances. The Boston Globe calls her joyful, wide-ranging musical style "A captivating, frisky mix of traditional grace and modern sophistication."

Laura's Irish American grandmother first handed her a fiddle at the age of four, and she apparently never looked back. An alumnus of Alasdair Fraser's famed Valley of the Moon Fiddle Camp, she graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2002 and went on to play with various groups, including Tim O'Brien's Crossing, Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, and the Celtic fiddle trio Halali. Laura's new CD Blow the Candle Out, combines her own confident, increasingly edgy originals with traditional Celtic fare, orchestrating an unusual combination of fiddle, drums, and voice.