VOICE STUDIO OF LAURA FORD HALL

About Laura Ford Hall

It all started when…

…Laura was two and 1/2 years old. She began singing in church. Her dad was the song leader at church when she was young, and he would hold her in front of the congregation and let her help him lead the singing. She just thought that is what life was. As Shakespeare said, “All the world’s a stage,” and Laura never had fear of being in front of an audience.

From singing in front of small groups to audiences of 27,000+, she has always enjoyed singing.

Laura is an experienced college professor, vocalist, pianist, artist, event organizer, and arts program creator.  Laura is a 15 year veteran Professor for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. She now lives in Virginia, where she teaches for Virginia Western Community College.  She began her career with the Kentucky Community College System at age 24 as a member of the Communication Department Faculty and Vocal Music Director.  She founded the school's music program and created and directed seven music groups for the college and community including Children’s Show Choir, a College Student Singing Ensemble, Community Choir, and Ladies’ Community Choir.  She also taught Teen Vocal Camps, Children’s Theatre, and Children’s Music and Drama Camps in the summers.  For Virginia Western, Laura has created the Virginia Western Singers, an auditioned, student singing ensemble.   

        Laura is in the process of earning her PhD, and earned Bachelor’s (University of Pikeville, Ky.) and Master’s (Morehead State University, Ky.) Degrees, studying Communication, Vocal Performance and Visual Art. Laura has received several teaching awards for her efforts in the classroom.  Laura won the Kentucky Community and Technical College New Horizons Faculty Member of the Year Award on the state-level in 2011, and in 2015 was voted by the students of her college as the  recipient of the Great Teacher Award.  

Prior to being hired with the Kentucky Community College System, Laura was the Arts Education Director and built the Arts Education Program for the Mountain Arts Center (MAC) in Prestonsburg, Kentucky.  As a 1,500 seat state-of-the-art theater, the MAC wished to add an education component, and chose Laura for the job. Laura Coordinated and organized all educational activities for the center.  She taught classes in music, art, and drama to children ages 3 to 18, and served as a private instructor for voice and visual arts, working with students one-on-one.  Laura served as the manager for all private instructors and other instructors involved in the education department.  Laura has organized and directed multiple recitals, art shows, and theater productions.

  In addition to her work at the college and the MAC, Laura is a vocal coach and owns her own vocal studio in Roanoke, Virginia. She is a skilled soprano & alto singer. In addition to her college study in vocal performance, she has over 14 years of private study in voice.  She studied with the nationally-renowned Dr. Thomas Cleveland at the Vanderbilt Voice Center in Nashville, TN; Dr. Jason Oby and Dr. David Greenlee in Lexington, Ky. 

For 14 years, she was a part of the Kentucky Opry, a variety musical performance group in Prestonsburg, Kentucky at the prestigious Mountain Arts Center.  The Kentucky Opry afforded her many experiences to sing on stage professionally, enabling her to open for Brad Paisley, Sara Evans, The Judds, Loretta Lynn, Dwight Yokam, Billy Ray Cyrus, Montgomery Gentry, Pat Benetar, and more. The Kentucky Opry is an outstanding variety show, and Laura was the group's resident Broadway showtune, classical, and pop singer. 

Laura has sung for events for every Kentucky Governor for the past 26 years.  She has been teaching private vocal lessons since 1999 and has had students featured on American Idol, The Voice, and The X-Factor. One of her previous students who attended her summer vocal camps, Tyler Childers, of Paintsville, Ky., was nominated for a 2020 Grammy award for “Best Country Solo Performance.” 

        Most importantly, in Laura’s heart, she loves singing worship and using her talents for God.  In 2004, she was named 5th in the nation in the Exalting Him Gospel Music Vocal Competition, the Christian version of American Idol. This competition, sponsored by Daywind Records and the Trinity Broadcasting Network, gave Laura the chance to be a featured vocalist on international television on multiple occasions. She released a solo contemporary Christian album, produced by J.D. Miller, entitled “Still Small Voice,” and toured across multiple states performing at churches for several years.  She said the highlight of her singing career was singing duets with Larnelle Harris, as a stand-in for Sandy Patti. 

         Laura and her husband, Brad, have been married for 18 years, and recently relocated to Roanoke, VA, where Brad works in the utility industry and Laura pursues teaching college courses and teaching performance and visual arts to children, teens and adults.  Although they have not yet been blessed with children, they have a Bichon Frise puppy named Sammy whom they love very much. Since moving to Virginia, Brad and Laura have been attending New Hope Christian Church and they look forward to serving their church and community for many years to come. They are both very community minded individuals and wish to contribute to their new home in Virginia as they did in Kentucky.