Laurana Wheeler Roderer is from Idaho, where she grew up folk fiddling and participating in competitions all across the state. She discovered a passion for classical music in high school, and was blessed to study with Emma Rubinstein. In high school, Laurana performed as concertmaster for the Idaho Falls Youth Symphony, and she was privileged to perform as a soloist with the orchestra in 2015 and 2016 as a winner of the IFYS Concerto Competition. Laurana completed her undergraduate degree in violin performance at Utah State University, where she studied with Robert Waters and the Fry Street Quartet. Laurana is an avid performer, and has given multiple solo recitals, served as concertmaster of the USU Symphony Orchestra, and been a member of the Caine Undergraduate Research Quartet. She recently started her Master’s degree in violin performance at Arizona State University, where she studies with Dr. Katherine McLin. Laurana has attended the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, Domaine Forget International Music Festival, St. Paul Chamber Music Institute, and she was accepted to participate in the Round Top Festival Institute before the event was cancelled due to COVID-19. In 2018, she was a recipient of a Presser Foundation Fellowship and a Russell Orchestral Scholarship. Laurana’s most ambitious artistic endeavor to date was a project to co-write a libretto, commission and produce an original chamber opera concerning global sustainability. The opera, “A Storm We Call Progress,” premiered in a virtual format in October 2020. Laurana was honored to be named the winner of the 2020 Idaho Falls Symphony Young Artist’s Competition. Laurana lives in Tempe with her husband Patrik (a violist/IT specialist), and their rambunctious kitten Felix.