About

Laura Bennett Cameron’s artistic and research activities in Europe and in the United States have established an international reputation for expressive playing, innovative collaborations, and expansion of the bassoon’s repertoire through her work with French composer Roger Boutry.

Dr. Bennett Cameron serves as Assistant Professor of Applied Bassoon and Chamber Music at the University of Texas-Arlington, where she has served the university for eight years, and oversees the bassoon studio and woodwind chamber music. In addition to her position as the principal bassoon of the  five-time Grammy-nominated Dallas Winds, Dr. Bennett Cameron also substitutes with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, among others. Laura appears frequently as a soloist, having given recent recitals in the US and Europe, and performed concertos and solos with orchestras across the US. In January, she performed Weber’s Andante e Rondo Ungarese and Rossini’s Concerto for Bassoon to packed concert halls in Italy. Her debut recording, French Masterworks for Bassoon and Piano, (Indesens Classique)  recorded with composer Boutry at the piano, has been praised as "virtuosic, lyrical, and engagingly musical" by critics across the globe. She is also a sought-after chamber collaborator, and has given performances with the Fine Arts Chamber Players, Spectrum Series, and other well-established chamber music organizations. She is the co-founder of the multimedia bassoon pedagogical series #bassooniststalk, which she hosts with Dr. Cayla Bellamy of Colorado State University.

Never far away from the instrument, Dr. Bennett Cameron is actively involved in research and publication. Her main research focus is the music of French composer Roger Boutry (Grand Prix de Rome 1954).  Her pioneering research on Boutry and his compositions represents the first major published resources on the composer in any language. Further, she is actively involved in the editing and publication of Boutry’s works for bassoon through TrevCo Music Publishing. She is frequently invited to speak about Boutry, and perform his works, thanks to her unique close relationship to the composer during his life, and her continued relationship with his widow. In 2021, she will begin more detailed research in the composer’s personal archives, in preparation for a biographical monograph.

 Inspired by her work with Boutry, Laura is the founder of La Société for la Promotion de la Musique de Roger Boutry, an American foundation devoted to the promotion and advancement of Boutry's compositions.  She also serves as solo bassoonist in The Boutry Ensemble, a chamber ensemble dedicated to the education and engagement of American audiences with the composer's body of work. Her second CD with Boutry, Encounters, is expected out in early 2020, was recorded with oboists Gina Ford (principal of the Dallas Opera Orchestra), Joanna Cox Pennington (LSU), the late bassoonnist Eric Varner, and pianist Darío Llanos Javierre brings Boutry’s newer and lesser known works for double reeds and piano into the spotlight.

Dr. Bennett Cameron holds a Doctor of Music in Bassoon from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, with concentrations in Music Theory and Early Music.  She holds a Master of Music degree is from the New England Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor of Music from West Texas A&M University (all degrees earned with highest honors).  Her principal teachers were William Ludwig, Richard Svoboda, Dr. Tina Carpenter, and Michael McCraw.  In addition to an active solo recital schedule and regular chamber performances, she maintains a small private bassoon studio in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  She is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society, the International Double Reed Society, Society for Music Theory, the Texas Music Educators Association, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Friends of WRR Classical, the second longest running radio station in the United States.