On October 25, 2014, I headed down to Rock Hill, SC, to work with the orchestra students at Northwestern High School. Their teacher is Marsha Gross and she had recently invested in a quintet of electric stringed instruments to use as part of her recruiting and retention efforts for the orchestra program at the school. […]
Students and NS Design at Interlochen
“Mr Laird!! It arrived! It arrived today!” These are the words I was greeted with on a Tuesday morning during my last week of the summer at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp. Cello student, Luis Enriquez, from Belgium, has been a student at Interlochen for the past 3 summers and has been part of numerous performances where […]
Maputo and Interlochen
Hi all – Last week, I had the pleasure of performing with the Intermediate Jazz Ensemble at Interlochen, under the direction of David Kay, on the David Sanborn/Bob James tune, Maputo. The performance was a ball and the reaction to the NS Design CR4 violin in that setting was magnificent. There were a ton of […]
Interlochen 2014
Hey all – I had a blast on Tuesday, July 8, performing with the Intermediate Jazz Ensemble up here at Interlochen in Northern Michigan. We did the old David Sanborn/Bob James tune, Maputo from the mid 1980’s. I have my CR4 violin up here and have been giving it a work-out, performing with various groups […]
10 Practical Strategies at ASTA
Back in the middle of March, I had the opportunity to present an educational session to attendees of the American String Teachers Association National Conference in Louisville. The session, entitled, “10 Practical Strategies for Incorporation Electric Bowed Strings into the Music Classroom,” is designed to give teachers some simple ideas for getting your string players’ […]
Summer at Interlochen with NS Design
Hi all. I am in my last day of my summer of conducting orchestras again this year at Interlochen Summer Arts Academy. It has been a great summer with lots of performing on my NS Design CR Series violin. I played for a fantastic art exhibit opening on July 24, using my looping technology, acoustic […]
The NS WAV Violin at Marshall Music Co. in Traverse City, MI
Hi all – I am conducting again this summer in Michigan at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. It has been a great start to the summer and we are looking forward to lots of good times and music this summer. I had a chance to play my CR Violin for an art exhibit […]
Thom Sharp’s Nanigo with Solo Electric Violin
Hey all – For you string teachers out there: How about trying the tune based on West African rhythms called Nanigo, by Thom Sharp (Latham Music) with percussion section and electric violin? I did this piece at Interlochen last week and it was a huge […]
Concert Day!
It is Wednesday, July 27, 2011 and I have my first concert performance today at Interlochen Summer Music Camp with the Intermediate Concert Orchestra. It has been a great 9 days of teaching and rehearsing and I can truly say that my ensemble is ready for their performance. We finally had a rehearsal in the […]
CR Violin in hotel room
Hey all – Just a quick note to remind everyone how handy it is to travel with a CR Violin for practice in hotel spaces. I am on the road with my family – heading up to Interlochen, MI to conduct for a few weeks and my 14 year old son will be attending the […]
Strings Without Boundaries
Hi All. On Tuesday, June 28, I was in Pittsburgh, PA, at Duquesne University, representing NS Design at the Strings Without Boundaries Workshop. This is a great workshop each summer and I was really pleased to be there. As part of the day, I gave 3 presentations. First, I had the opportunity to speak with […]
Lamar Stringfield String Camp 2011
Lamar Stringfield Haydn Orchestra with Scott Laird on CR Violin Hi all – For the past two weeks, I have been teaching at the Lamar Stringfield String Camp at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. It was another great year at Lamar Stringfield with many fantastic moments. I am frequently asked how I incorporate electric strings […]
Great week at ASTA in Kansas City
This week, I have been at the American String Teacher’s National Conference in Kansas City. It has been a fabulous week of instructional seminars, exhibits, and networking for string educators and students around the from around the United States and even some from around the world. Electric bowed strings are always a big part of […]
Southeastern Strings Conference
String teachers in the NC area: January 21 is a state-wide in-service day for teachers. Please consider attending the Southeastern Strings Conference at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I will be giving a session on electric bowed strings and there will be many fine sessions throughout the day. During my session, we will […]
NS Design Instruments and the Lamar Stringfield Summer String Camp
Hi all! Today, just a quick note about the Lamar Stringfield String Camp and NS Design Instruments. For the past two weeks, Meredith College in Raleigh, NC has been hosting the Lamar Stringfield String Camp, a day camp for students to focus on string playing, technique, and ensemble playing. Students may attend for 1 or […]
Underground Caverns
Hi all! the following is a video that was created by the NCSSM Distance Education Department. It centers around a performance of the NCSSM Orchestra and Ligon Middle School Orchestra in Wake County, NC. This was a really cool performance and a marvelous technological and artistic experience for the students of both schools. I think […]
Theresa Jenkins-Russ and Carolina Cool Jazz Orchestra
Here at NS Design, we are really pleased to welcome Theresa Jenkins-Russ as a pioneer in our NS Design Artist/Educator program. Theresa is a string and orchestra teacher in the Spartanburg, SC School District, Artistic Director of the Carolina Cool Jazz Orchestra, and President-Elect of the South Carolina Chapter of the American String Teachers Association. […]
Midwest Clinic Notes – Tuesday
Hi all. Today, I am the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. It is one of the largest annual gatherings of music educators and music companies. If you are a music educator and have never been to this event, it is really worth the effort to get here at some point. The string education sessions began this […]
Inspiring Students with New String Technology
Hi all! This is the introduction from my presentation at the NCMEA Fall In-service Conference in mid-November. I will be giving this session again at the ASTA National Conference in Santa Clara, CA in Feb. I hope to see you there! Scott
NS Design CR Series Violin and Looping w/ Jamman
Hi all! I performed last weekend with the Carolina Cool Jazz Orchestra in Spartanburg, SC and this was one of my solo tunes. In this song, I create a loop with my guitar and a Lexicon Jamman and then solo with my NS CR Series violin. I hope you enjoy this. I wrote this song […]
American String Teachers Association National Conference
On March 18-22, The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) held their annual National Conference in Atlanta. I was pleased to attend the conference and present several educational sessions to both teachers and students that were involved with the conference and the National Orchestra Festival. I am happy to report that NS Design had a strong […]
Using CR and Wav Violin for Pit Peformance
This weekend, I will be performing at the Durham (NC) Performing Arts Center as part of a pit orchestra for a school district-wide show choir gala called “Evening of Entertainment.” The pit for this show traditionally uses professional musicians from all around NC. This year, a few high school students will be joining the pit, […]